“Ferrari is huge in Italy” – Charles Leclerc received a shock gift in the form of SF90, the car he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 2019, bravely holding off Mercedes.
Ferrari has made quite a reputation for gifting their drivers F1 cars, and this time it was Charles Leclerc who received the bonanza. The car is none other than the SF90 he won the Monza 2019 race with, brilliant fighting off the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
“It’s very difficult to find the words to describe what I felt during this race [at Monza]. I had a lot of pressure – the whole team had a lot of pressure – because obviously, we were in Italy, Ferrari is huge in Italy, and everyone wanted us to win so there was big pressure around the whole team.
“So the pressure was building up. Then doing the pole was something special already, but then I had to focus on the race and in the race, I had no space to breathe. I had Lewis all the race at less than two seconds, I think, so a lot of pressure.
“And then to be on the podium, to finally have won the race, and to see the red army under the podium was something extremely special.
“It gave me chills and made me realize what it is like to be a Ferrari driver, which of course I realized a little bit before, but I think you really realize it once you win in Monza and see the passion [that] you can really see in the eyes of the people – the passion that they have for the brand. It’s unbelievable to see.”
