Ferrari call in Gianluigi Buffon to inspire Leclerc and Sainz

Italian Grand Prix: Preview lap of Formula One track

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Gianluigi Buffon has met with Ferrari’s drivers in a bid to inspire Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to win their home Italian Grand Prix. Leclerc and Sainz were seen grinning at meeting the football legend, who swapped signed shirts.

The drivers have received a Buffon signed goalkeeping shirt with the Italian icon getting a signed yellow Ferrari T-shirt. The meeting was organised between Puma Motorsport and Scuderia Ferrari.

A caption from Puma Motorsport said: “Something special to share with Italian legend @gianluigibuffon.” It comes after a difficult season for the Scuderia after their championship hopes faded.

Leclerc took victory in two of the first three races and appeared set to challenge Red Bull for the crown. However, the team’s season has unravelled after a series of mechanical failures and mistakes.

Leclerc suffered engine blowouts at the Spanish and Azerbaijan Grand Prix while leading. This put him at the back of the grid for the Canadian Grand Prix, preventing him from challenging for victory.

However, the Prancing Horse has been accused of making strategic errors at a series of races which has plagued their title push. The team have been blamed for bad calls at the Monaco, British, French and Hungarian Grand Prix.

Leclerc has also made his own errors after suffering accidents at Imola and Paul Ricard. It leaves the Monegasque 109 points behind Verstappen in the championship with just eight races remaining.

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The gap means the Dutchman can afford to retire from half of the remaining races and still win the title. The image comes after speculation that Mattia Binotto’s future in the team is uncertain.

Leclerc addressed the rumours ahead of the weekend, claiming the Prancing Horse was still unified.

He explained: “There are always rumours around a Formula One team and especially with Ferrari but I think what is important in those moments is not to get distracted with whatever is being said.

“We are very united as a team and I think we need to keep on going like this. We’ve shown that we’ve been great from last year to this year with this kind of performance and we need to keep going in that direction. I didn’t hear that rumour in particular but obviously we have to focus on our own job.”

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