WATCH: Charles Leclerc Suffers a Scary Crash During the Italian Grand Prix

Scuderia Ferrari’s Italian Grand Prix came to a premature conclusion, with both cars failing to see the chequered flag. While Vettel retired following a brake failure, his teammate suffered a heavy crash at the exit of parabolica. Thankfully, the Monegasque emerged unhurt after the incident.

Amidst all the safety car confusion, Leclerc benefited from pitting early for hard compound tires. The Monegasque was running well inside the points before he crashed.  At the exit of parabolica,  Leclerc lost the rear end of his Ferrari and careened off into the barriers.

The impact resulted in a red flag to retrieve Leclerc’s stricken Ferrari. With Leclerc’s shunt, Ferrari leave Monza with no points and 2 DNF’s.

Sebastian Vettel’s race also ended in dramatic fashion after the German’s brake line exploded. At the first heavy braking zone, Vettel couldn’t stop his SF1000 and rammed the marker boards. Ultimately, Vettel nursed his Ferrari back into the pits and retired from the race.

As things stand, the Italian Grand Prix could be anyone’s for the taking. Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who leads the race, must serve a 10s stop and go penalty. The British driver stopped under safety car conditions when the pitlane was closed.

The driver that gained most from all the on-track drama is Lance Stroll, who has a good chance of winning the Monza race. This was the first red flag period in Monza since the 1995 Italian Grand Prix.

The only positive in a weekend that’s been nothing short of a nightmare is the absence of any fans on track. Both cars not finishing before the passionate Tifosi would simply be rubbing salt in Ferrari’s many wounds.

Ferrari now heads to Mugello, the team’s circuit, completely on the back foot. However, Ferrari can salvage a few points next weekend as Mugello isn’t as low downforce a circuit as Monza.