Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur says he personally made the call to let Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc race each other in the closing stages of the Italian Grand Prix, as the Frenchman felt it was "the best way to thank everybody" for their support.
Sainz kept the Tifosi's dream of seeing the House of Maranello vanquish on home soil alive for 14 laps in the first part of the race, but Red Bull eventually gained the upper hand over its rival.
After ceding the lead to future race winner Max Verstappen, Sainz was overhauled for second place by the Dutchman's teammate Sergio Perez just six laps from the checkered flag.
As he struggled with his tyres, the Spaniard then fell into the clutches of Leclerc. But Sainz was determined to hold on to third, and after getting the green light from the Ferrari pitwall, the two drivers engaged in a fierce battle for the final spot on the podium.
With two laps to go, Sainz radioed in suggesting that Ferrari freeze its cars' positions.
"Guys, let's bring it home"," he said but both drivers were told that they could race, although they were not to take any undue "risk".
"If I froze the position, you will have exactly the same question – why did you freeze the situation?" said Vasseur as he commented the decision.
"For sure it's much easier to comment when you have it at the end, but I think it was also the best way to thank everybody, the support of the tifosi and so on, and I was not that comfortable to freeze something five laps before the end.
"I trust them, but I told them no risk at all. It's always relative, and I think that the notion of no risk is relative. But it's an opinion, and I'm quite proud of the decision, and of the job done by the drivers today."
©Ferrari
As the Ferrari pitwall contemplated whether to give the Scuderia's chargers free rein in the final laps of the race, Vasseur was the one who had "the last call".
"On this, I want to have the last call," he said. "And I told them no risk, you can race but no risk. Again, it's relative. But I was much more comfortable with this situation than to freeze something."
"You can always say that it was a bit too much or not. But in the end, it was why we finished the race, and I'm more than happy with the outcome of this."
Both Sainz and Leclerc were also more than happy to indulge in a good scrap in front of their home crowd.
"It never felt too much of a risk," said Sainz. "Obviously, with a team-mate, you're always a bit more tense, [and give] a bit more space because it's the last thing you want in Monza in front of the tifosi, the two Ferraris to touch.
"But I think we had a tough battle. It was for an important position, and we managed to keep it clean."
©Ferrari
Leclerc echoed his teammate's view but added that both Sainz and himself had been "on the limit" at times during their tussle.
"I was on the limit, Carlos was on the limit," said the Monegasque. "This is normal. I think it means to both of us a lot to be on the podium in front of the tifosi, so we gave it all.
"But we also know how important it is for the tifosi to have one red car, whoever it is on the podium. So we had that in mind. But we also really enjoyed it. It was cool.
"Carlos was on the limits of the regulations on braking, and I was on the limit of regulations attacking, so we both did, but it all ended well, so it's all fine."
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