Monza, Leclerc and a Desire to Win That Defies Logic

There are circuits where you simply race, and then there is Monza. Charles Leclerc puts it in his own way: what happens here escapes the usual arithmetic. Seven years after his first win at this track, the Ferrari driver says it is the grandstands that come back to him first. The closing laps, the crowd on its feet, and him looking away from the track even though he knows perfectly well he shouldn't.

2019 Hasn't Faded

That victory ended a nine-year wait for Ferrari on home ground. It was built on a knife-edge duel with Lewis Hamilton, one of those battles where two drivers accept brushing past each other lap after lap. Leclerc still holds sharp images of it, along with the idea that the real prize at Monza isn't the trophy you lift but the step you climb onto. He did it again in 2024. Two Sundays that carry serious weight in a career.

An Upgraded Engine, an Acknowledged Weakness

The present is rougher. Ferrari arrives at the Temple of Speed with a first engine upgrade and new parts on the car, but Leclerc isn't kidding himself: the power unit remains the Scuderia's identified weakness in 2026, and this gain is there to close a gap rather than overturn it. Mercedes is ahead, the field is tight, and on a layout decided by tenths, the smallest mistake is paid for in full.

Monza still offers a strategic way out. It is one of the rare circuits where a team can accept losing a little ground on Saturday if the car holds up on Sunday. And where the tow becomes a bargaining chip again: Leclerc made no secret of the fact that his team-mate Hamilton would have priority in that game during qualifying. A detail that says a lot about how Ferrari wants to approach the weekend as a team rather than as an internal duel.

Vasseur, the Constant

Asked about the direction the team is taking, Leclerc restates his confidence in the project led by Frédéric Vasseur. It's a theme that has kept coming back since he committed his future to Ferrari: the conviction that the organisation is moving forward, even when immediate results don't yet tell that story. On the new generation of cars, he holds a simple line: a good driver has to adapt to whatever he is given, whatever the car or the character of the engine. In other words, no excuses available.

Taking the Risk, Whatever It Costs

The calendar doesn't help. Madrid follows the very next week, with a challenge Leclerc rates as serious. It doesn't matter: he accepts the idea of taking risks here, even if the bill lands elsewhere. That is probably what makes Monza different for a Ferrari driver. The week starts on Monday rather than Wednesday, Milan lives to the rhythm of the Grand Prix, and every team member has family in the grandstands. The pressure rises a notch, and so does the atmosphere.

Verstappen, for his part, expects a painful weekend with the 2026 cars on this very particular layout. A sign that nobody arrives here with any certainties.

What remains is the part Leclerc states plainly: turning all that excitement into a win on Sunday. At Monza, the distance between hope and result is measured in tenths, and nobody in the paddock will pretend Ferrari starts as the favourite. Which may be exactly what makes it interesting. Source : https://fr.motorsport.com/f1/news/exclusif-leclerc-interview-avant-monza/10851931/