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Charles Leclerc’s Clear Opinion on Repeating Last Year’s ‘Close to Impossible’ Monza Win

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Luke-John Buckle | Last updated Sep 6, 2025 12:24 PM ET

Charles Leclerc heads into the Italian Grand Prix weekend at Monza under significant pressure from the Tifosi to deliver for Ferrari every season.

The Monegasque driver is delivering and has beaten seven-time world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton for much of this season. He qualified fourth, ahead of the 40-year-old who starts 10th after a five-place grid drop in Italy.

Leclerc performed admirably one year ago at Monza to deliver his second victory at the Temple of Speed, perfecting a bold one-stop strategy.

The Ferrari driver has pole-sitter Max Verstappen and the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in front of him on the grid. Leclerc starting fourth on the grid may be a good omen, as he won from P4 12 months ago.

Despite this, Leclerc feels taking a second consecutive win at Ferrari's home will be even more difficult to pull off than last year.

He told Sky Sports F1 after qualifying: "Last year was close to impossible, I think. And at the end, we did a different strategy, which obviously helped us to get the win. I think this year, it's even more difficult than last year in relative terms.

"Also, the strategy, I believe, is clearer for everybody. It's going to be tough or even tougher to do something different. If we win tomorrow, I'll be extremely surprised. But never say never. Last year, we did it, so I hope we can redo it tomorrow."

Ferrari has been competitive this weekend at Monza as Leclerc was just three tenths slower than pole-sitter Verstappen, who now holds the outright lap record at the track.

Leclerc Has 'No Regrets' After Maximising Ferrari's Pace

Ferrari hasn't been able to challenge McLaren for much of this year, while Verstappen still delivers moments of magic in an underperforming Red Bull.

Leclerc admitted after qualifying at Monza that he took a lot of risks in his first flying lap in Q3.

He added: "When I saw that Max went in front, I knew that most of the time, you do the best lap on the second lap in Q3, and you take all the risks there.

"I knew I had taken all the risks in the first run. I wanted to go for a bit more in the second run, but it didn't work out. I have no regrets because I think that's the place we could have done in the best possible case."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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