Formula 1: Charles Leclerc is the driver the Tifosi have been waiting for

In the midst of the longest Ferrari Italian Grand Prix win drought in Formula 1 history, Charles Leclerc is the driver for whom the Tifosi have been waiting.

Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, and Sebastian Vettel. These are the four drivers, of whom all but Massa are Formula 1 champions, who have driven for Scuderia Ferrari since the Italian team’s most recent Italian Grand Prix victory back in 2010.

It was Alonso who delivered the team the victory at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in the 2010 season. But since 2010, none of these four drivers have had success in delivering the faithful Tifosi another victory in the backyard of the Prancing Horse despite the fact that Alonso is a two-time winner of the race and Vettel is a three-time winner.

As a result, Ferrari entered the 2019 season on their longest ever Italian Grand Prix win drought at the “Temple of Speed”.

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That said, it hasn’t been for a lack of pace for the Scuderia at the 11-turn, 3.600-mile (5.794-kilometer) Autodromo Nazionale Monza road course in Monza, Italy that has kept them from defeating their rivals.

In all but one of the eight Italian Grands Prix that have taken place since Alonso’s 2010 victory, they have secured a podium position, three times as race runners-up.

Could this be the year they break the lengthy win drought — and the lengthy five-year win streak of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport?

It most definitely could be, and that is because Charles Leclerc is the driver who the Tifosi have been waiting for.

Since arriving at Ferrari ahead of the 2015 season, Vettel has finished the Italian Grand Prix everywhere in the top four except first place. Up until the end of the 2018 season, Raikkonen was his teammate. From the 2015 Italian Grand Prix through the 2018 Italian Grand Prix, Raikkonen collected a total of zero victories in not only the Italian Grand Prix but in all of Formula 1.

Enter the 21-year-old Monegasque.

Leclerc’s promotion to Ferrari came at the expense of Raikkonen’s ride with the team, as the 39-year-old Finn signed with Alfa Romeo Sauber, now Alfa Romeo Racing.

Right away, it was as if Leclerc had been driving for Ferrari all his life. An engine issue late in his second start in the Bahrain Grand Prix prevented him from taking what would have been a victory of over 10 seconds, and a suboptimal tire strategy cost him the victory late in the Austrian Grand Prix. He qualified for both races on the pole position.

But after a disappointing first 12 races of the 2019 season for Ferrari, they arrived at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, a track tipped to play to their advantage due to its emphasis on straight-line speed.

After losing close friend Anthoine Hubert in a Formula 2 crash at the track the day prior, adding to a list of close companions lost throughout his racing career, Leclerc capped off a dominant Belgian Grand Prix weekend and withstood mounting pressure from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to secure an emotional first victory of his career.

Next up?

The Italian Grand Prix, the race at what is the only track on the schedule that puts more of an emphasis on straight-line speed than Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and without a twisty sector.

With the monkey off of his back, momentum on his side and a track that should benefit the Ferrari SF90 in a huge way next up on the schedule, Leclerc could end Ferrari’s eight-year Italian Grand Prix win drought at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

After nine years, he could prove to be the driver who the Tifosi have been waiting for.

Will Charles Leclerc deliver the Tifosi Ferrari’s first Italian Grand Prix victory in nearly a full decade this Sunday, September 8? Tune in to ESPN2 at 9:05 a.m. ET for the live broadcast of this Formula 1 race from Autodromo Nazionale Monza to find out.