1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Nico Rosberg)

Q: Wow, this is Formula 1 at its very, very best. it’s completely unpredictable at the moment – Ferrari catching that surprise win here today! Lando, I’m sure we have to start with that Turn 4 overtake that Oscar did on you right after the start. Did he catch you by surprise?

Lando NORRIS: Of course, because he got passed. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know what I should have done differently there. If I brake one metre later, I probably would have crashed. So, something we’ll look at. But, I mean, Ferrari just drove a better race today, especially Charles. He did a very good job, so just hats off to him.

Q: Was the one-stop ever a possibility for you when you were chatting with your engineers or was it something that was never considered?

LN: I mean we considered it the whole race, but it was not possible with the amount of graining that I had. It’s a tough one. We knew it’d be tight, but with our car and some of the limitations we have it wasn’t possible today, so we knew it. We knew that could be a possibility. So, we’re disappointed of course, but yeah, Ferrari did a better job. They had a better car today, and that’s hats off to them.

Q: In order to fight Verstappen for the championship, you really need all the points all the time, and now there’s Oscar who’s kind of in between there and taking points away from you as well. What’re your thoughts on that?

LN: Well done to him. He did a good job. He got past me, and he deserves it.

Q: Alright, thank you very much, Lando. Congrats, anyways, on third place. Oscar, that was a great race from you. I think you did all you could, but I’m sure you’re still very disappointed with that end result?

Oscar PIASTRI: Yeah, it hurts. I’m not going to lie, it hurts a lot. We did a lot of things right today, you know, there were a lot of question marks on the strategy going into the race. Yeah, from the position we were in with the tyres looking like they did, doing a one-stop seemed like a very risky call, and in the end it was right. So, yeah, very, very happy with the pace, with the race that I managed to achieve. Just when you finish second, it hurts.

Q: The team asked you, ‘hey, do you want to try that one-stop or not?’ Do you think in hindsight you should have gone for it or actually really that tyre was just gone?

OP: In hindsight, yes. But, you know, everyone’s a legend on Monday after the race or, you know, at the chequered flag. And today, unfortunately, we got it a bit wrong. And, you know, myself being a big part of that, we had everything to lose from being in the lead of the race. Charles could try something a bit different. He was going to finish third either way. And, yeah, he picked the right gamble today. You know, the Mediums were getting destroyed. And even the Hards and the Red Bull at the start looked pretty dead. And my front left was pretty heavily grained. Just we didn’t expect it to clear back up again, which it did. So, yeah, painful.

Q: Thank you very much, Oscar. Great drive today. And there’s always next race out to try and get that win again. And now we will welcome the winner. Charles, you are the king of Italy right now! I mean, wow, wow, wow! That is just so awesome.

Charles LECLERC: It’s an incredible feeling. Actually, I thought that the first time would just feel like this, and then the second time, if there was a second time, wouldn’t feel as special. But, my God, the emotions in the last few laps, exactly the same, like in 2019, just watching the grandstand inside of the track. which is tricky but yeah, incredible! I mean Monaco and Monza are the two races that I want to win every year. Obviously I want to win as many races as possible and the world championship as soon as possible but these are the two most important races of the season and I managed to win them this year. So, it’s so, so special.

Q: I mean I wish everybody at home could feel the atmosphere here at the moment. you know it’s just off the charts. And could you feel the tifosi carrying you there in the last couple of laps?

CL: Yes, the fans are incredible. (Spoken in Italian) I said in English before, the first time was really special, the first year in Ferrari in 2019 was a dream for me. I thought that if there was a second time it wouldn’t be so special because the first one is always more unique, but that wasn’t true. It’s always so special and this is thanks to you for the support, the push you give us every day when we come here. Thank you, thank you very much for everything.

Q: So I’ll just translate quickly that, of course, you say the tifosi are just unbelievable and the power they give you is just so, so special. You brought a lot of upgrades here to the car. It seems to be working really so much better. Do you think you can keep challenging for wins now, even if we go to a different track like Baku next?

CL: I don’t know. I don’t know because I think our package was working pretty well on a track like Monza. Whether it will be the same for the rest of these of the season I doubt, so I still think McLaren are the favourites but we have done a step forward that’s for sure and Baku is a pretty nice track for me. I quite like this track and I’ve been quite competitive in the past, so who knows maybe we can achieve something special again there.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Oscar, if we could come to you first. Very well done. You showed a lot of pace in that Grand Prix. How seriously did you consider a one-stop strategy like the winner Charles Leclerc?

OP: Clearly not as seriously as I needed to. I think, for me, it was a big risk to do that. You know, the graining of the tyres has been a big topic all weekend. You know, in practice, once you got graining, it was basically game over. Even in the first stint on the Mediums, it was pretty difficult. And, yeah, when we made the second stop, for myself, my front left tyre was pretty heavily grained and, you know, I was going slower and slower. So it seemed like a sensible decision to pit again. Yeah, you know, I guess nobody really expected the graining to clear up on Charles, from what I heard. So yeah, in hindsight, clearly stopping once was the right thing to do. But from that point in the race with all the information that we’d gathered through the weekend, it seemed incredibly risky and. You know, that’s kind of the blessing and the curse of leading the race or, you know, being at the front, full stop. You know, the guys behind you can react to what you do. And, you know, for Charles, if he did a two-stop, he would have locked in third. And if he did a one-stop and fell off the cliff, he still would have finished third. But, of course, he pulled the one-stop off and Ferrari look like the hero today. Yeah, obviously it hurts at the moment, but I think in the moment it was the right thing to do.

Q: Is there anything you could have done differently from within the cockpit today? I mean, you were lighting up the timing screens in that first stint, going incredibly quickly. Did that force you into two-stopping?

OP: Not massively I don’t think. I need to go back and look at what the graining level on Charles was when I pitted for the second time. Up until that point it was you know a pretty controlled race. We felt pretty early on that it was a two-stop race and maybe in hindsight, there are things we could have done a bit differently from obviously a strategy point of view, but also a driving point of view to keep the options open a little bit more. But if the information I got is right, on the radio, then it wasn’t really a matter of driving slower. It was just kind of sticking with the graining and getting through it, which given in practice when that happened you basically couldn’t hit the brake pedal because you turned your front left into a 50 cent coin, it seemed like a very risky thing to do so. Obviously, it was the right thing in hindsight but everyone’s a lot smarter when the chequered flag falls.

Q: Hindsight is always 20-20. Look, one of the decisive moments in the race came on the opening lap with the pass on Lando into the second chicane. Just talk us through that?

OP: I mean, I braked later and got around the outside. There wasn’t really much more to it than that. Yeah, you know, we both got through unscathed. I knew once I hit the brakes, you know, I kind of got ahead a bit and yeah, I knew I was kind of entitled to stay on the outside. And yeah, ultimately, for 38 laps of that race, it put me in a race-winning position. So yeah, for me, it was just a good first lap.

Q: And Oscar, how do you view the Constructors’ Championship now? The team is just eight points behind Red Bull. Just how confident are you, you and the team?

OP: I think very. We’ve closed over 100 points. So, yeah, pretty happy with how we’re going.

Q: Alright, Oscar, thank you for that. Lando, if we can come to you now. Very well done to you as well. How do you look back on today’s Italian Grand Prix?

LN: Pretty disappointing. Yeah, which is obvious from the outside even. I mean, Charles drove a great race, honestly. Hard to know if we could have done what he did today, but they deserved it. Yeah, both Oscar and Charles drove a good race. So, yeah, disappointing, starting from pole and ending third, especially when I think the pace was very strong. So, a shame, but that’s what it is.

Q: Now, you spoke about killing your front left tyre over the radio. Was a one-stop ever on for you?

LN: I mean, we tried, we knew it was a quicker thing to do, but I think, yeah, we just killed the tyres a little bit too easily. And like Oscar said, when you’re in third, it’s a much easier position to just try and risk and do such a thing. So I don’t think we can be too disappointed. I think it was a lot riskier for us to try and do it than it was for Charles, and he made it work. So, yeah, hats off to them and Ferrari and himself because the driving part makes a big difference out there. We thought of it and we wanted to do it. We just we couldn’t today. I think it was clear yesterday. We had a good qualifying car. But today our race car was probably not quite good enough.

Q: You say you tried at what point in the race. Did you commit to a two-stop?

LN: When I boxed for the second time.

Q: Now, one of the things that’s come out of this Grand Prix is that you’re allowed to race. Oscar papaya rules. Those are the words of your race engineer, Will Joseph. What are those rules of engagement?

LN: Just don’t crash, that’s all.

Q: And was Oscar’s pass on you into the second chicane on lap one, was that all within the rules?

LN: Yeah, there was no contact, so he did a good job.

Q: OK, look, final one from me. You’ve eaten into Max Verstappen’s lead. You’re now just 62 points behind, eight races to go. How do you view that?

LN: It’s the same answer every single weekend. I’m doing the best I can, and the more points I gain, the better, but still eight races to go.

Q: You’re doing the best you can. Are you going to need some help?

LN: I have help.

Q: From your team-mate?

LN: Yeah, he helps me. But I’m not here just to beg for someone to let me pass. That’s not why I’m here. I’m here to race. He drove a better race than me, so I finished third, and that’s where I deserved to finish.

Q: OK, Lando, thank you very much. Welcome to our race winner, his second win here at Monza, the seventh of his Formula 1 career. Charles, what a day for you. Just how sweet was this victory?

CL: Just as sweet as the 2019 one. I thought the first one was always going to be more special if there was a second one ever happening, but actually it’s not the case. The second one just feels as special. Today I did not expect it going to the race. I thought that we would struggle a bit more compared to the McLaren, but also compared to the Mercedes. that seemed to have a really good pace on Friday. However, after a few laps, I saw and I felt the car was in a good place. Oscar maybe was a little bit quicker. It was difficult to see Lando’s pace as he was behind. Then once we got undercut, I was like, OK, maybe we are losing the win there. But then once both pitted, I actually picked up quite a lot of front grip, having the free air in front. And I was, as they said, being the last car, I didn’t have much to lose by trying the one-stop. But we did a really, really good job with that front left, which has been very, very tricky for everybody. We had a lot of front graining, but managed to take that front grip again. And that helped us to win today. To stand up on that podium in front of all the tifosi after such a week, because it’s a very tiring one… It’s an incredible feeling to be racing for Ferrari in Monza, but it’s also very tiring. And to be able to win here is extremely special.

Q: It was a strategic masterstroke. I just want to ask you, how confident were you of this one-stop? And had you been leading, would you have still one-stopped?

CL: Before the race, if you would have asked me, the one-stop was definitely the thing I wanted to do. After 10 laps, I think we saw that Red Bull started to struggle with the front left on the Hard. And there we started to doubt the one-stop. We thought that it would be a lot more difficult because we thought that the Hard would be a more difficult tyre to bring to the end. However, as soon as I put it, I still thought that this was a possibility. And especially, I think, when Oscar pitted two or three laps after that. I felt like I had more grip not having a car in front, especially on the front tyres, and that’s where I really thought that the one-stop, we could make it work.

Q: Now, you said after the race to Nico Rosberg that you’ve clearly made progress with these upgrades. You’ve already won at Monaco, you’ve now won here at Monza. Just how much more can you achieve with this car in 2024?

CL: We’ve got to be cautious. After Monaco, I think we’ve had the four worst races of the season, because Monaco was so specific to our car at that time. Monza is also a very specific and particular track. Lots of straights, not many corners. We had a rear wing for this track as well, which helped us to win today. We had also another upgrade, which I think definitely brought us closer to McLaren, but I don’t think it’s enough to be the car to beat for the rest of the season on other tracks. I think we still have a lot of work to do, but I’m really happy anyway to have one here in Italy.