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Charles Leclerc is hoping to give Ferrari fans something to cheer about with a win at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza after he clinched pole for the 2022 F1 Italian GP.
Scuderia has been trounced in the last four rounds of the season and Max Verstappen and Red Bull have built mammoth leads in both Championship standings.
While many predicted the RB18 to be the dominant force at Monza following the 2022 F1 Belgian GP, Charles Leclerc and Ferrari showed they had the pace to match Red Bull throughout the first two practice sessions.
The Scuderia took that momentum into qualifying and did not need grid penalties to sort things out. Leclerc's time of 1:20.161 was good enough to lock out the top spot on the grid outright.
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It was the Monegasque's first pole in Monza since his famous win in front of the Tifosi in 2019 and Charles Leclerc is already planning an encore this time around.
Speaking in his post-session interview on the grid with Davide Valsecchi, the 24-year-old shared the feeling of taking pole for Ferrari on a weekend when they celebrated their platinum jubilee and the track marks a centenary. He said:
“It is amazing. It wasn’t an easy Qualifying session but I knew we had the potential in the car, the way we put everything together. I knew that in this last lap in Q3, I had to put everything together and I managed to do it. Very happy with the lap and very happy with the performance. It has been a great weekend until now. The feeling with the car is amazing and I really hope we can do just like 2019 tomorrow.”
Heading into his final run in Q3, Leclerc was off the pace in comparison to teammate Carlos Sainz, who is one of nine drivers with engine penalties this weekend. When asked where he found the speed to get to the top of the timing charts, Leclerc said:
“I just took too much more risks. It was the last lap. I knew I had to find quite a lot of performance there and I just went for it and it worked out.”
Can Charles Leclerc hold on for a win in Monza against Red Bull and Max Verstappen?
Charles Leclerc has done everything he can to get pole for Ferrari in the best possible position for the 2022 F1 Italian GP. But can he hold out to win for the fourth time this season?
His main rival Max Verstappen has been handed a five-place grid penalty after taking a new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) for his Power Unit. If one takes the Dutchman's qualifying results (P2) into account, he will start in P7.
This is considerably closer than his starting positions in Hungary (P10) and Belgium (P14), where Verstappen went on to win despite starting behind Charles Leclerc. Given the Dutchman's past exploits, it would come as no surprise if he caught up to the Ferrari man in time for the first pit stop to let the games truly begin.
It is no secret that Ferrari's strategization and reliability have been questionable, to put it mildly, while driver errors have also played a role in putting them in their current predicament.
The Scuderia, however, will need to be on top of their game if they want to get a win on home soil against Red Bull, who have been akin to a well-oiled machine in 2022.
We will know for sure when the lights go out on Sunday in Monza!
