Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz mobbed by fans in Milan as Ferrari pressure builds

Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

Italian Grand Prix

Leclerc and Sainz mobbed by fans in Milan as Ferrari pressure builds

Italian supporters keen for team to return to form during rocky season

Lauren Sneath

Thursday 31 August 2023 16:27

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Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have shared videos and photos of hundreds of screaming fans welcoming the Ferrari team to Milan as pressure on the team mounts ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.

Home races for any team are exciting for fans, but the attention paid to the iconic Italian outfit reaches another level when Ferrari drivers race in the country.

Sainz posted a video on Instagram as he was welcomed by scores of fans, with the caption: “Grazie a tutti! Really looking forward to this weekend!”

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A post shared by Carlos Sainz (@carlossainz55)

Leclerc also shared footage and photos of the adoring supporters, writing alongside the post: “Monza is special thanks to you. Thank you all for coming to Milan today, you are the best.”

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A post shared by Charles Leclerc (@charles_leclerc)

A team under pressure

While the support can help bolster the team for the race, there is no denying the pressure Ferrari is under to turn results around after a rocky season.

This year so far, the Scuderia has struggled, with strategy errors and bad luck impacting results. Leclerc has managed P3 finishes in Azerbaijan and Belgium, but it looks unlikely that the team will be able to beat out a dominant Red Bull in the near future.

Leclerc will been keen not only to improve upon the recent Dutch Grand Prix, where he retired with floor damage, but also to repeat his 2019 win at the iconic Monza track.

Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile appears to believe that the issues lie with the car itself, explaining that for Monza, that is where the focus lies.

In Zandvoort, Cardile said: "We think that our main weakness is on the aero characteristics of the car.

"So all the focus since T1 [the Bahrain test] when it has been pretty clear that we were not at the level we expected to be, the weakness was coming from there.

"All the focus, all the efforts has been since T1 on improving the aero characteristics of the car."