Nico Rosberg shares the role Frederic Vasseur played in Charles Leclerc’s brilliant Monza win

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Ferrari would have set their sights on trying to win the Italian Grand Prix in front of the Tifosi going into the latest Formula 1 race weekend, but would never have expected what played out to happen.

The gap between the top six drivers in qualifying was the smallest in the history of F1 and both Ferrari drivers were in the mix.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz witnessed McLaren’s stunning pace in qualifying even if neither driver put together their best lap on Saturday to secure their places on the front row of the grid.

McLaren’s papaya rules didn’t come into play at the beginning of the race and while Lando Norris led out of the first chicane, Oscar Piastri’s bullish overtake into the Roggia chicane gave him the lead of the race.

It also put Norris out of position and Leclerc was on hand to move up to 2^nd going into the Lesmos.

From there, Leclerc nailed a perfect one-stop strategy to take a famous win in front of Ferrari’s home fans.

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

Nico Rosberg was speaking on Sky Sports F1 after the race and explained how the race was won.

He highlighted the role team principal Frederic Vasseur played in securing that victory for Leclerc.

With movements happening behind the scenes at Ferrari, Vasseur is filling in on the technical side of things within the team.

However, it was Vasseur’s tactical awareness that Rosberg wanted to highlight that was instrumental in Leclerc’s seventh Formula 1 win.

How Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur helped Charles Leclerc win the Italian Grand Prix

Asked if it’s been too long since Ferrari won a championship, Rosberg said: “Yeah, it’s been a very, very long time and maybe they’re starting to smell it after today!

“I don’t think they had that too much in mind but after the performance of the car today, hanging in there with the McLarens, nailing the strategy which by the way is a lot of Fred Vasseur’s influence on the strategy.

“They haven’t been known for doing such awesome jobs on the strategies and Vasseur is really that racer.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

“He gets it and he’s quick to react so I’m sure there’s a lot of influence from him there in the way they nailed the race today.

“So now they’re sniffing here that there’s a chance to win the whole championship!”

How Charles Leclerc surprised Oscar Piastri at Monza

While everyone associated with Ferrari will be delighted with how the race at Monza played out, McLaren will be scratching their heads about how they threw away what should have been a straightforward race win.

Oscar Piastri admits he was surprised by Ferrari during the race as they managed to pull off a strategy that McLaren never considered.

Leclerc managed his tyres brilliantly and Lewis Hamilton admitted after the Grand Prix that McLaren’s drivers pushed too hard to ever one-stop.

Ferrari typically concentrate their efforts to make sure they’re in the strongest position possible for Monza so it’s too early to know whether the latest update package is going to put them on the same level as McLaren for the rest of the season.

However, it appears to have put Ferrari ahead of Red Bull in the pecking order which could give them an outside chance of winning the Constructors’ Championship.