08/09/2019
NEWS STORY
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc claimed his second consecutive win from pole, using a soft-hard one-stop strategy: the only driver in the race to select this. The Monegasque driver, taking Ferrari's first home victory since 2010, had to soak up constant pressure from both Mercedes drivers on a soft-medium strategy, who finished second and third behind him.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes attempted to 'undercut' Leclerc by pitting one lap before him, for medium tyres. Nonetheless, Leclerc's pace was enough for him to emerge ahead of Hamilton after making his own stop for the hard tyre and defend his lead all the way to the finish.
The fastest lap of the race was set by Lewis Hamilton, who made a late second stop for the soft, while his team mate Valtteri Bottas took up the pursuit of Leclerc.
Conditions remained dry following heavy overnight rain, with air and track temperatures respectively of 21 and 35 degrees.
Many frontrunners were hit with grid penalties, selecting mediums for the opening stint. One was Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who started last and finished eighth, despite making two stops. Ahead of him in seventh was Racing Point's Sergio Perez, who started 18th after an engine change.
Mario Isola: "In dry conditions, the majority of drivers could execute the predicted one-stop strategy, with the central battle for most of the race being between the soft-hard strategy from Ferrari and Leclerc versus the soft-medium 'undercut' from Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. Both drivers delivered an excellent battle all the way to the finish, with Valtteri Bottas joining in as well. We saw some impressive stints even from the soft tyres, with several drivers hanging onto their original set of starting softs well into the second half of the race; helped also by a couple of virtual safety car periods. Congratulations to Charles Leclerc and Ferrari for a memorable home victory, as well as to Renault for getting two cars into the top five, not to mention Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi for his best race result."