Charles Leclerc assesses Ferrari’s prospects for next races as he reflects on factors that helped seal emotional Monza win

Charles Leclerc is remaining “cautious” about his expectations for the rest of the season following his surprise victory at the Italian Grand Prix, with the Monegasque and team mate Carlos Sainz admitting that their form may depend on “very specific” track factors.

After taking the opportunity to snatch P2 from Lando Norris amid Oscar Piastri’s overtake for the lead on Lap 1, Leclerc later appeared to lose out when he was undercut by Norris during the first pit stops.

However, the Scuderia opted to run both cars on a one-stop strategy which allowed Leclerc to build up a lead when the McLarens pitted for a second time, resulting in him clinching an emotional win in front of the Tifosi.

The result means that Ferrari are now only 31 points behind the Woking outfit in the constructors’, while leaders Red Bull are just 39 points away. But when asked how much more the team could achieve in the remainder of the season, Leclerc was keen not to get carried away.

“We've got to be cautious,” Leclerc reflected after his first win since his home victory in Monaco back in May. “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.

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“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.”

In terms of the tracks at which Ferrari could potentially challenge for further victories, Leclerc again acknowledged that the SF-24 may suit certain circuits more than others.

“Before this race, I don't think I was seeing myself challenging for wins anywhere else,” the 26-year-old conceded. “Maybe Singapore. Singapore maybe could be a strong track for us. On the other tracks, I still feel like we are a step behind McLaren and Red Bull.

“But today we've seen that we can be very on a par with McLaren if we do everything perfect. Again, I think that the upgrade has helped us in some ways today to have the same pace as them.

“However, for the other tracks, I don't know whether it will be enough to completely close the gap, especially the gap we've seen in the previous races, not here. So, yeah, we've got to wait and see, but we've done some step forward. I think we need some others.”

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On the other side of the Ferrari garage, Sainz also made his one-stop strategy work but had to settle for P4 after his tyres started to drop off towards the end. Despite this, the Spaniard was mostly satisfied with how his race had unfolded at Monza.

“I was honestly very happy with how the first part of the race went,” Sainz explained. “Then for some reason we extended a lot the first stint [on the medium tyre], while the hard looked very strong when they boxed, and I lost six/seven seconds of race time that probably just made me lose the train of DRS and the train of tow, and then I was a bit in no-man’s land.

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“We still managed to make the one-stop work, but it didn’t quite work the same way as it did with Charles, but the most important thing is that we won with Charles and that the team today has scored a lot of points, and Charles managed to win in front of all the Tifosi.”

Sainz then echoed his team mate’s thoughts on how the team might perform at upcoming races, with the 30-year-old suggesting that the next two events in Azerbaijan and Singapore could be good for the Scuderia.

“I think we need to wait until Austin [to see where we stand],” he added. “I think the next two races we might have another shot at winning, but it is very particular, very different tracks to the normal tracks that we go to.

“Austin is the next normal track and we will see if we still have the pace to make it happen.”