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How Leclerc cemented his place as Ferrari's new star
Fending off Michael Schumacher for a whole race at Imola in 2005 cemented Fernando Alonso's claim to F1 greatness. The way Charles Leclerc resisted Mercedes' Monza attacks was Ferrari's new star's equivalent
The 2019 Italian Grand Prix was Formula 1 at its best – at least for the first 41 laps. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton didn't trade the lead once, but from the moment the race started until the Mercedes driver's mistake on the brakes at Turn 1 on lap 42 through to Valtteri Bottas's late chase, it was a race on a knife edge. Tense, tight, briefly explosive and relentless, it had echoes of the legendary Michael Schumacher versus Fernando Alonso battles at Imola in 2005-6.
For 63 minutes, Leclerc could not let up. Save for the two laps on which first the Ferrari driver and then Hamilton pitted, there was never more than 1.589 seconds between them at the end of the lap. On average, the gap at the line was just 0.951s. Leclerc's first win at Spa the weekend before might have been the breakthrough, but it was his victory at Monza under the most intense pressure from one of grand prix racing's true greats that signalled he has come of age in a race where teammate Sebastian Vettel made yet another costly error.
Archive: When the French GP almost produced F1's greatest shock
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The lost F1 team that launched Newey
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How big is a Formula 1 car? Mercedes’ F1 car examined and rules explained
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Why Haas' dreary 2019 season is bad news for F1
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The real step that ended McLaren’s F1 nightmare
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Rating the 2019 Formula 1 rookies
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How Toro Rosso gave Renault a major scare
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Will Williams' 2019 soul-searching be enough?
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Horner shocked by FIA clampdown on "iconic" F1 team pitwall celebrations
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Espargaro insists Aprilia “is not good” in Argentina, despite MotoGP practice sweep
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Quartararo ‘doesn’t feel normal’ on Yamaha after nightmare Argentina MotoGP practice
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Explained: What caused F1 GPS problems in Australian GP practice
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How F1's new era has exposed the downside of its most important rule
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Why Piastri’s F1 homecoming will be a landmark occasion
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The recent Australian GP form history that will boost Ferrari in F1 2023
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The cycle of F1 upheaval Williams must end to rediscover past glories
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The state of play in F1's technical silly season
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Ranking the top 10 pre-war grand prix drivers
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Why drivers are the least of Ferrari’s F1 worries
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How Vasseur has begun Ferrari’s mission to keep Leclerc on side
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