Mark Webber explains what made him ‘nervous’ during the Italian Grand Prix

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The final laps of the Italian Grand Prix were tense, not least for eventual winner Charles Leclerc who was attempting to make a risky one-stop strategy work for Ferrari.

Ferrari had decided to improve its final stint after seeing the times of their rivals on the hard tyre, while McLaren decided to run the two-stop strategy with their drivers.

After McLaren pitted Oscar Piastri from the lead, Charles Leclerc stayed out an took the lead of the race with teammate Carlos Sainz in second place.

What ensued was a tense final 15 laps for Ferrari as they told Leclerc to manage his tyres while Oscar Piastri was able to go flat out. After passing Sainz first, the McLaren driver chased down Leclerc in the final eight laps of the race.

Despite going over a second quicker than the Ferrari driver, Leclerc managed to hang on and win by just 2.6 seconds to Piastri. Discussing the win on the Formula for Success podcast, former F1 driver Mark Webber explained why he was left ‘nervous’ in the closing stages.

Mark Webber ‘nervous’ for ‘audacious’ Charles Leclerc strategy

Leclerc was one of the only drivers that made the one-stop work in the race, owing to the high track temperatures and tyre degradation that impacted a lot of the teams on race day.

Webber, who is Piastri’s manager, said it was a tense race because he did not expect Leclerc’s tyres to go the distance.

“I was nervous of the one mate, to be honest. I was nervous of it because, yes, he had a gap, but I think in terms of, it was audacious, everything going up to the weekend, Carlos didn’t pull it off, Charles drove brilliantly and he was the only guy that made the one look even half sensible. So hats off,” said Webber.

“You can’t be half pregnant, you got to sometimes go in, all in and they did. Oscar went all in on the two and ultimately he pulled up a few seconds short.”

What Charles Leclerc’s engineer did that assisted his victory

The one-stop strategy was always going to be an option to the teams according to Pirelli, but making it work would be difficult owing to the conditions.

Ferrari initially was going to run the two-stop strategy but after noticing their rival’s times on the hard, they quickly asked both drivers if it was possible to stay on the tyre until the end a few laps into their second stint.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Leclerc’s engineer did well to conceal that Ferrari was considering the one-stop after his first pit stop, when the Monogasque questioned why they left him open to the under cut from Lando Norris.

Ferrari was the only team that finished inside the top ten on the one-stop, with Piastri admitting that he was surprised that they were able to make the strategy work.