Italian media hand out 10s to Leclerc: 'Made it all the more special'

La Gazzetta dello Sport

La Gazzetta dello Sport - which gives Leclerc a 10 - writes of a "wonderful" and "thankfully somewhat monotonous" Ferrari parade. "Leclerc made one of his childhood dreams come true: to win an F1 race in the narrow streets where he was born and raised. And because to do so in a Ferrari made it all the more special. Ferrari's last success at Monte Carlo was in 2017, with Sebastian Vettel, but the last time a Ferrari driver managed to win here from pole was in 1979 with Jody Scheckter. Just to give an idea of the magnitude of this achievement.'

Before the race, Leclerc was still cautious about the possibility of a win, despite his stunning pole position."Rightly, he thought of the other two times when he was fastest in qualifying but then failed to score a win or even a podium due to various setbacks. So after the finish he finally exploded with happiness, getting out of his Ferrari and diving on his mechanics while president John Elkann celebrated with all the team members."

Corriere dello Sport

Corriere dello Sport speaks of an 'insane triumph in fiery red colours'. "It is the Monegasque's first success at his home circuit, where he had twice before started from pole position without completing the race. A crazy day for the Cavallino, who finally bagged the long-awaited victory in Monaco, hopefully a turning point for the whole season."

Corriere della Sera

Leclerc receives a 10 from Corriere della Sera for his performance in Monte Carlo. "Monte Carlo finally becomes Monte Charles. Leclerc enters the history of the principality, where he was born and where he lives: he is the first Monegasque driver to win there. A pole on Saturday, leading from start to finish in the race on Sunday.... Leclerc held his own, making no mistakes and narrowing gap to Verstappen in the World Cup to 31 points. Maybe it's better not to have too many hopes, but in the meantime..."

Ferrari also got the maximum score as a team. "Once again, the figure we handed out has a significance in line with the chronicle: for Ferrari it was also the tenth win in Monaco. The first came in 1955 with Maurice Trintignant, the ninth and until Sunday last in 2017 with Sebastian Vettel. However, in our opinion, it is premature to say whether the SF-24 has also become a 10 with the updates: the characteristics of Monte Carlo are unique, it is better to make a judgement on this at a later date."

La Stampa

La Stampa paid particular attention to the celebration that erupted after the flag fell. "Leclerc could not contain his joy over his victory in Monte Carlo: after the historic result, it was big celebration. He pushed his team boss, Frederic Vasseur, into the pool only to dive in after it himself. And all this amid laughter and applause from the whole team."

This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.