Leclerc swoops to Monza pole and demands no errors
Charles Leclerc has called on Ferrari to end their run of blunders and help him turn pole position into victory at today’s Italian Grand Prix.
Leclerc sent Monza wild as he saw off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to take the spoils over one lap yesterday. Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton came next.
But Verstappen, Sainz, Perez and Hamilton will all be sent down the grid for exceeding their number of allocated engine parts.
It means George Russell, who finished sixth, will join Leclerc on the front row. Lando Norris qualified seventh, but is set to start third in his McLaren once the grid sanctions have been applied.
Verstappen is on course to secure his second world title in as many seasons after winning the last four races, and 10 of the 15 rounds staged so far.
But Leclerc, 109 points behind the Red Bull driver, will be out to restore pride in a season in which Ferrari – through mistakes by man and machine – have failed to deliver on early promise.
Following the last round in Zandvoort a week ago, 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg said
fundamental changes needed to be made at Ferrari after Carlos Sainz was farcically greeted by only three tyres when he arrived for a pit stop.
The presence of Ferrari CEO John Elkann, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and 125,000 expectant fans will only intensify pressure on the team from Maranello.
And Elkann did not mince his words in a Gazzetta dello Sport interview on the eve of Ferrari’s home race.
“There is no doubt that the work in Maranello, in the garage, on the pit wall and at the wheel needs to improve,” he said.
“We must continue to make progress and that goes for the mechanics, the engineers, the drivers and obviously, the entire management team, including team principal Mattia Binotto.
“We have seen that there are still too many mistakes when it comes to reliability, driving and strategy. I am not satisfied because I think we can always do better.”