Credits: IMAGO / Beautiful Sports and IMAGO / PanoramiC |
L: Nico Rosberg R: Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc won the seventh Grand Prix of his career before an adoring Tifosi at the 2024 Italian GP on Sunday. The Monegasque made it two wins in 2024 after winning his home race at Monaco earlier this year. Despite an upgraded SF-24 taking the accolades in Monza, Nico Rosberg does not believe Leclerc is in the 2024 drivers’ title fight.
With eight races to go this season, the drivers’ championship has been blown wide open by Red Bull’s struggles. Max Verstappen holds a decent lead with both, Lando Norris and Leclerc in hot pursuit. However, Rosberg believes that Norris is the only realistic title contender this season.
Sky Sports F1 quoted the former Mercedes world champion as explaining, “I think McLaren will be the dominant car as we go to more normal tracks again but Ferrari have brought updates and made progress.”
After their underwhelming Spanish GP upgrades, Ferrari had seven performance-related upgrades and two circuit-specific parts at Monza. However, going into the final leg of the season, Rosberg has cast a vote of confidence in McLaren to bring the fastest race car.
And precisely so, as the MCL38 has been the more consistent car across a variety of tracks this season. Meanwhile, the SF-24 had dipped in performance significantly since Leclerc’s Monaco GP win. The Monegasque’s podiums in Spa and Zandvoort and this win in Monza may bolster Ferrari’s confidence, but a drivers’ title challenge with only eight races left seems far-fetched.
Leclerc sits 86 points behind Verstappen in the championship in third place. After the Italian GP, Norris has reduced his deficit to Verstappen by eight points. Going into the Azerbaijan GP weekend, the MCL38 is expected to dominate the streets of Baku. Although, they need to iron out their tire strategy calls.
Ferrari won the 2024 Italian GP with the second-fastest car
Leclerc’s win at the Italian GP was down to a brilliant strategy on the pit wall rather than the SF-24 being a faster package than McLaren’s. The Woking-based team lost out with a two-stop strategy with the #16 driver making his hard tires last a whopping 38 laps to edge out Oscar Piastri at the chequered flag.
Norris still looks like the favorite to usurp Verstappen’s throne atop F1. The British driver has been in fine form of late — his Dutch GP performance last weekend being testament of the same. The Italian GP would also spark concerns within the McLaren camp about Piastri’s dedication towards Norris’ title charge.
That said, McLaren still have the fastest car at their disposal. Ferrari’s upgrades did seem to perform at Monza but it is still unknown whether the performance is representative of the package as a whole or Leclerc’s win was circumstantial. Norris will be eager to set the record straight when F1 goes racing again in two weeks in Baku.
