Ferrari 'disappointed' with no Monza podium, but the Tifosi shouldn't be

22:30, 07 Sep

Updated: 23:29, 07 Sep

byKada Sarkozi

Ferrari left the Tifosi empty-handed in Monza, as Max Verstappen and the McLaren drivers were the ones lifting the trophies on the podium. Did the Scuderia have a positive or negative weekend at their home Grand Prix?

Charles Leclerc crossed the finish line in fourth place at the Italian Grand Prix, four seconds away from last podium-scoring place.

Oscar Piastri's third place never seemed to be in danger, after he managed to overtake Leclerc with DRS, having lost the position to the Monegasque on the first lap of the race.

McLaren also covered the possibility of an undercut by pitting Piastri first, instead of Lando Norris.

Team principal Frederic Vasseur explained to GPblog after the session that Leclerc's tyres overheated over the first laps, something they paid the price for.

The Monegasque driver already explained on Saturday that he expected a podium finish to be difficult. "On pure pace, I don't think it's possible," he told GPblog.

Leclerc finished where Ferrari's pace seems to be, behind Max Verstappen, who made a great choice of set-up with a lower down force spec rear wing, and the two McLarens, whose advantage was negated due to the low downforce configuration necessary to achieve a great result, and the low-degradation nature of the circuit.

It was also a clear one-stopper, which Leclerc used to surprise both McLarens with to clinch the win last year, making it virtually impossible to make any headway that way.

Charles Leclerc battling Oscar Piastri in Monza

Hamilton's performance elevates Ferrari's weekend

The British began the weekend with a five-place grid penalty, after he sped under the double yellow flags on a reconnaissance lap in Zandvoort.

Hamilton finished a tenth behind Leclerc in qualifying in P5, which meant he started from P10.

With the low downforce set-up, Hamilton was able gain positions early on, and was able to get past Gabriel Bortoleto and Fernando Alonso quickly.

"I definitely felt on top of the car today, and I was really happy with it," he told Sky Sports after the session.

In general, Vasseur also sees a positive trend with Hamilton from Zandvoort afterwards.

"At the end of the day the pace was better from the beginning compared to Charles. The mood was better during the race, he was fighting with Russell until Lap 30 that means that he was back in a better position.

"The pace was there from the first lap of FP1 to the last lap of the race."

Summing up the day, the French team boss said:"It’s a shame and I'm disappointed to not be able to bring a podium to the Tifosi, because when you see the pit lane, the start/finish line and the podium, it would have been magic and they deserve it.

"But we were close to McLaren today. It's probably the smallest gap of the season I think.

"Just that Max [Verstappen] was outstanding: from the qualifying, from the first lap to the last lap he was there, he was flying and he was much faster than us, but overall I think compared to Mercedes and McLaren we did our job."

But even as the team wished to deliver a podium, Verstappen was far ahead, and both McLarens stayed ahead of Leclerc.

The team doesn't need to focus on what they can't control, but continue to execute what they can moving forward. Then the desired results will arrive.