Outside Line: Ferrari Monza win makes Formula 1 beautiful again

Reflecting on a marvellous Sunday we witnessed when Charles Leclerc powered Ferrari to an unexpected but delightful victory at the Italian Grand Prix, it again dawned on me just how intrinsic the Scuderia is to Formula 1, and dare I say it: To my life as a Formula 1 aficionado!

Ahead of the Monza race weekend, Johnny Herbert proved to be spot on when he predicted a Ferrari victory. Perhaps he knew something we didn't, because, to be honest, I believe they were second or third in the pecking order that weekend, yet they engineered a win against a mighty McLaren duet who lost the plot.

But it must be emphasised that Ferrari won the race more than fair and square. Too often criticised for fumbling pit stops and strategy, when it mattered on Sunday, the Reds were superb, spot on in front of a pulsating home crowd, urging their drivers on but not expecting victory.

After all, with McLaren annexing the front row with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, it was a no-brainer that a McLaren would win, and a one-two was theirs to throw away. Which they did.

In qualifying, the best Ferrari was Leclerc in P4 alongside George Russell, who had spoilt what might have been an all-red second row. For the win, everyone was thinking the two Papaya cars would just disappear into the distance.

It would be sensible for them not to tangle; use the might of the car to gap it to Red Bull and Max Verstappen in Nowhere Land. But no, they tangled. And before that, George Russell fluffed his lines into Turn 1.

From what was P4 and the grid, Leclerc found himself p2 after the McLarens decided not to play together. It was a fine piece of opportunist driving, avoiding what might have been a tangle or two, especially into Turn 1 and most of the inevitable frenetic opening lap at the Temple of Speed.

By the time Norris recovered from his shock of being overtaken by his teammate, he was staring at the back of a Ferrari, while Piastri scuttled away like a kid chased by cops after raiding the Landy store. And that's how it seemed to be going until Zak Brown's team fluffed it all up after digesting what had just happened between their drivers; they forgot about Ferrari.

In Leclerc's deft hands, he made a one-stopper work with a 15-lap stint on Pirelli yellow-band Mediums and 38 laps on the white-band Hards. McLaren double stopped with their drivers, Piastri ceding a controlled lead in the process, and waved bye-bye to his first GP win.

Leclerc’s victory on Sunday in Italy, his second at Manza and his seventh F1 career victory, Ferrari’s 246th Grand Prix win, and the great team’s 20th victory in front of around 335,000 Tifosi at the venue over the course of the weekend. The rest of us (billion?) were lucky to watch it on the TV. Ferrari and Leclerc made F1 beautiful again.

Magnificent was that iconic Monza tarmac, flooded by a sea of Red, Tifosi streaming, gushing, storming like a lively river podium bound to celebrate a most famous victory. I got goosebumps, and I was a thousand miles away!