An air of hopeful expectation is nothing new for Ferrari fans at Monza. However before this year’s Italian Grand Prix, as vast prancing horse flags unfurled over the tifosi packing the grandstands, it was suffused with an unmistakable sense of excitement and anticipation. Might, these scarlet-clad romantics dreamed anew, the home win drought finally be ended this weekend by the Scuderia’s bright new star, Charles Leclerc?
Ferrari have not won the Italian Grand Prix since Fernando Alonso’s victory nine years ago. The demand that they succeed here above anywhere else is always fierce but every year since 2010 the pressure has only become more intense. This weekend history too weighs heavy. It is the 90th edition of the race and crucially the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Scuderia by Enzo Ferrari in 1929.
All of which, were it not already enough, is compounded by the fact that Ferrari and the fans know their championship challenge is gone. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will surely now claim both titles. A Ferrari win at home the week after their first victory this year in the last round at Spa would surely sweeten was has proved to be a bitter pill this season.
“Expectations after Spa are high,” said the Ferrari team principal, Mattia Binotto. “We know long straights are our strengths. But we also know we only finished a second ahead of Mercedes. We know we can do well here in Monza but only if we have a perfect weekend.”
What had begun in testing with such promise has fallen away as Ferrari have struggled with their car at the majority of circuits with a weakness in grip through the corners. Monza should indeed play to their strengths of a straightline speed advantage combined with the season’s lowest downforce configuration. They have also brought a new engine here. If there is a race Ferrari should win, it is the Italian Grand Prix.
Leclerc, rather than his more experienced four-times world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel, seems to be the driver the fans expect to do it. The 21-year-old took his debut F1 win at Spa and has repeatedly looked quicker and more comfortable with the car than Vettel of late.
This is a huge weekend for Leclerc, who wore a smile as he experienced F1 as a Ferrari driver at Monza for the first time as his appearance was cheered roundly during practice. In the model car shop at the heart of the track the proprietors said it was Leclerc’s replica SF90 that was flying off the shelves.
Ferrari have been clear they believe in Leclerc as the future of their team and the supporters also sense something special about this young man who has made his debut in the most high profile seat in F1 with almost boyish insouciance. He felt the full force of what it meant as a huge crowd turned out on Wednesday to celebrate those 90th anniversaries in Milan’s Piazza Duomo. “So many people, so much passion,” said Leclerc. “It was just incredible and very, very impressive to see so many people coming together for us and for Ferrari. It was crazy.”
This then was that pre-race expectation that comes with the territory, but with it comes the risk of the crushing sense of disappointment when the Scuderia fail to deliver. Vettel knows it well. He won his first of three grands prix at Monza with a Ferrari-engined Toro Rosso in 2008 but has yet to deliver a victory here for Ferrari. “This is the biggest race for us, no doubt,” he said. “Now is the time to sort of over-deliver. It’s a big weekend so hopefully we can make it count this time.”
For the fans either driver would be acceptable in taking the flag on Sunday. While, equally, for Ferrari it feels almost imperative that if they are to salvage anything from this season, one of their men simply must master Monza. Early indications are the team have the edge but they can take nothing for granted. Leclerc topped the time sheets in a wet first practice session on Friday. While in the more representative and largely drier running of practice two, Leclerc was once again quickest but with Hamilton only six-hundredths behind him, pushing Vettel into third, two-tenths back.
Should similar mixed conditions prevail on Sunday, a battle royale between the five-times world champion and the young pretender is on the cards.
