Italian GP: Charles Leclerc Takes Second Race Victory In A Row

Charles Leclerc clinched second race victory in a row in a fierce showdown against the Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas, who finished third and second respectively - the victory ended Scuderia Ferrari's nine seasons winless race in Italy.

The pole-sitter, Leclerc, proved he has come of age in fighting for a race win as he battled through from fifth place, taking down Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo to move up to third place in lap 23 before taking down Daniel Ricciardo and Bottas to finish quickest in 1:15:26.665 seconds.

Hamilton did give the Monegasque a strong challenged but ruined his chances of taking the first place by making two costly mistakes. First, was on his attempt to overtake Leclerc in the corner on lap 23 but only to run wide going on gravel before making his way back to the track to be in fourth behind the Ferrari driver, Ricciardo and Bottas.

"If you have to win one Grand Prix for Ferrari, it's the Italian GP," said the ecstatic Scuderi driver who made his Italian debut for Ferrari. 

Hamilton hope of finishing in the first place was finally dashed when he took the run-off area in an effort to beat Leclerc but unfortunately come out falling behind Bottas to be in the third place as the Scuderia Ferrari driver poled on for the victory.

Whilst Leclerc battled Mercedes team to claim his career first F1 back-to-back race victory, Sebastian Vettel was in nowhere near his teammate as he finished outside top 10. In the same spectrum, it Danny Ricciardo season's best performance for Renault since he joined the team from Red Bull in 2018.

Hamilton maintains title lead with 63 points ahead of Bottas in driver's standings and Leclerc closes in on with Sebastian in fourth position trailing by just two points.