Formula 1 fans left stunned by ‘ghastly’ announcement Ferrari have just made before Monza

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Ferrari head to their home race at Monza buoyed by Charles Leclerc’s unexpected Dutch Grand Prix podium. Optimism levels were low, but Leclerc showed an impressive turn of pace for a second consecutive P3.

Leclerc was nearly a second down on polesitter Lando Norris on Saturday as he qualified sixth. But he passed Sergio Perez at the start and then executed a successful undercut on both George Russell and Oscar Piastri.

Piastri came charging towards Leclerc on significantly fresher rubber but the Monegasque was able to resist the pressure. Carlos Sainz recovered from 11th to fifth in the sister car to complete a solid day.

Ferrari will bring an upgrade to the Italian GP, but they’re unlikely to be ahead of McLaren on pure pace. Norris’ crushing victory at Zandvoort showcased the Woking outfit’s advantage over the rest of the field.

Still, the Tifosi can dream of a Ferrari victory with the requisite slice of luck. Leclerc’s 2019 triumph at the event remains one of the most memorable in recent F1 history.

Last year, Ferrari unexpectedly bagged pole position through Sainz, with Leclerc third. However, Verstappen was too strong in the race and they had to be content with a single podium as Sergio Perez came through to take second.

These F1 fans hate black Ferrari race suits for Italian Grand Prix at Monza

Ferrari ran a special livery at last year’s Italian GP, featuring elements of yellow. It’s unclear at this stage whether they plan to do the same in 2024.

However, the team have unveiled some custom race suits for the weekend. Rather than the traditional scarlet red, Leclerc and Sainz will don a chequered black design.

Many F1 fans are less than impressed. @JosephPetrassi went as far as to call the overalls ‘ghastly’.

@iamdavidreyes15 and @GrindleKian blamed the sponsors for the undesirable aesthetics. @Luxionica feels the team have ‘lost their way’ when it comes to one-off attire.

There’s also a theory that neither of the drivers are keen. @63lew says they were holding back ‘internal thoughts’ in the announcement video, while @redclerc accused them of showing ‘fake enthusiasm’.

Charles Leclerc fumed at race engineer despite Dutch Grand Prix podium

Around three months ago, following Leclerc’s landmark victory at the Monaco GP, optimism levels at Maranello were as high as they’d been for years. Verstappen was in sight in the drivers’ championship (31 ahead), and Red Bull were even closer in the constructors’ (24).

But Ferrari got their Barcelona upgrade wrong and they’ve spent the summer trying to correct their development path. The hope will be that the Monza updates do just that.

Both drivers will be frustrated to see McLaren maximising Red Bull’s recent regression. Leclerc said he’d ‘had enough’ during the Dutch GP as he wrestled with the car en route to a positive result.

According to Naomi Schiff, a Ferrari source was surprised by the podium finish. The team must understand why they found pace, though, or they won’t be able to unlock it consistently.