5 Winners and 5 Losers from Italy

Monza’s La Pista Magica conjured up another extraordinary Grand Prix that yielded a dream result for Ferrari’s faithful as Charles Leclerc claimed victory. But it wasn’t so fun for others. Lawrence Barretto picks out his winners and losers from the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Winner: Charles Leclerc

For the second time this year, it was a case of ‘dreams do come true’ for Charles Leclerc as he followed up a maiden victory on home soil in Monaco with his second win at Monza, home to Ferrari and their loyal Tifosi.

The Monegasque managed his tyres to perfection to secure his second win of the season and seventh of his career.

It was also his third podium in succession – following two third places – to sit 86 points behind championship leader Max Verstappen and just 24 adrift of Lando Norris.

MONZA, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 01: Race winner Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari celebrates on the — Leclerc grabbed a famous win at Monza on Sunday

Loser: Lando Norris

With Red Bull struggling at Monza, Norris knew it was the perfect opportunity to slash the gap to title rival Verstappen – and it started off well when he took back-to-back poles for the first time in his career.

But while he had a great getaway, he lost two places on the opening lap to extend his run of having never led the first lap when starting on pole to seven.

He ultimately crossed the line third for his fourth podium in five races and while he cut the gap to Verstappen by eight to 62, a win would have made the deficit 52 – which is the equivalent of two Grand Prix wins with fastest laps.

MONZA, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 01: Lando Norris of McLaren and Great Britain on the grid during the F1 — Norris dropped two places on the opening lap, which cost him a chance of victory in Italy

Winners: The Tifosi

Every year, the Tifosi come to Monza in their droves with the dream of seeing a Ferrari driver standing on the top step of the podium.

After qualifying there was hope – even if McLaren and Mercedes looked strong – and on Sunday, the Scuderia’s race pace and bold strategy call to do a one-stop helped Leclerc win to make the Tifosi that packed the grandstands erupt.

Loser: Kevin Magnussen

Kevin Magnussen converted 13th, his highest start at Monza since 2018, into P10 and his first point at the Italian race for 10 years.

However, not only would it have been even better without a penalty for causing a collision with Pierre Gasly demoting him from ninth to 10th after the chequered flag but the penalty points he accrued with the punishment have pushed him over the limit and thus he has been banned from racing in Baku.

The Haas racer will have to watch from the sidelines before being permitted to return to the grid at the Singapore Grand Prix.

MONZA, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 01: A general view showing Race winner Charles Leclerc of Monaco and — Leclerc was able to celebrate on one of the best podiums of the year with his passionate fans

Winners: McLaren

You might find it strange that McLaren are in the winners column after they lost the Italian Grand Prix when looking nailed on to win it – but stick with me.

Yes, losing a win is never ideal, but the less risky strategy to stop twice with both cars meant they still scored a healthy number of points while their rivals Red Bull struggled.

Piastri and Norris are joint top-scorers in the last five Grands Prix, with 85 points each, which means they have the momentum – and McLaren are just eight away from championship leaders Red Bull in the constructors’ title fight.

Loser: Yuki Tsunoda

This was a weekend to forget for Yuki Tsunoda, who got the nod to run RB’s upgrade package (they rushed it through so only had one).

MONZA, ITALY - AUGUST 31: Sixteenth place qualifier Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Visa Cash App RB — Tsunoda's race ended early after contact with Hulkenberg

The Japanese driver was booted out of Q1 for the second time in three races, while his team mate Daniel Ricciardo made it into Q2.

He was then forced into retirement in Sunday’s race because of damage caused by him being hit by the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.

Winner: Alex Albon

On a weekend where Williams knew they had a car suited to that track, Alex Albon can usually be relied upon to deliver and he did just that at Monza.

He followed up his superb qualifying performance – he has made it into Q3 in all his four appearances at Monza – with a classy drive in the race.

He made a one-stop work, controlled the graining as best he could and fended off Fernando Alonso while staying close enough to Kevin Magnussen to inherit the Dane’s position when his 10-second penalty was applied to take ninth.

MONZA, ITALY - AUGUST 30: Alexander Albon of Thailand driving the (23) Williams FW46 Mercedes on — Albon drove a superb race to score two brilliant points for Williams

Losers: Red Bull

Three-time world champion Max Verstappen lamented another difficult weekend where he said Red Bull need to “basically change the whole car”.

P7 was Verstappen’s worst qualifying performance since missing Q2 in Singapore – and one place ahead of team mate Sergio Perez.

In the race, he made up one position to P6, 37 seconds down on the winner at a track where he took his 10th consecutive win last year. Perez was P8 with the team now just eight points ahead of McLaren in the constructors’ championship.

Winner: Franco Colapinto

Williams were full of praise for new recruit Franco Colapinto, who finished 12th on his Grand Prix debut at Monza.

The Argentine was called up at short notice as a permanent replacement for Logan Sargeant – and after qualifying 18th, he managed the hard tyres superbly to make a one-stop strategy work.

MONZA, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 01: Sixth place Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull — It was a difficult race for Red Bull, who didn't have the pace to compete

The 21-year-old crossed the line just 13.852s behind Albon, who finished ninth – an impressive feat given he had never driven more than eight consecutive laps in the 2024-spec Williams before the weekend.

Loser: Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri’s facial expression post-race highlighted the pain he was feeling inside after he agonisingly missed out on his second Grand Prix victory.

The Australian was outqualified by team mate Norris for the eighth race in succession but made up for it with one of the all-time great passes to snatch the lead and command the race.

However, he lost the lead when he boxed for the second time and despite having immense pace to cut into the one-stopping Leclerc’s lead, he ran out of laps to regain the top spot.