Charles Leclerc went against an unwritten F1 rule as he celebrated his Italian Grand Prix win. The Monagasque secured his second victory of the season and the seventh of his career in Monza.

Ferrari’s one-stop strategy proved to be a stroke of genius as they overcame McLaren’s one-two in qualifying to triumph on home soil in front of the Tifosi. After crossing the finish line, Leclerc cut an emotional figure on the team radio.

He made an impassioned speech – but noticeably in the local language, and not English like usual. It’s long been a topic of discussion amongst F1 fans.

While there’s never been confirmation of an official rule regarding which language teams must use on their team radio, it seems they are instructed to primarily speak in English. F1 is currently owned by Liberty Media, an American company, and was previously owned by FOM, a British company.

It’s therefore become the de-facto official of the paddock. And given it’s the most spoken language in the world, it’s for the benefit of the majority of audiences.

English is 99% of the time a common meeting ground for those who have different native tongues, which is very much the case in F1’s multi-cultural garages. There have been other occasions where celebrations are communicated in more familiar languages.

For those who don’t speak Italian, Leclerc was told by engineer Bryan Bozzi after finishing first: “You make me dream, you make me dream.” He responded: “Yes, yes, yes, [you’re] incredible, another one, let’s go.

“Mamma mia, mamma mia. This season is giving me a heart attack, full of highs and lows but the highs are so good. Thanks to everyone truly, all the people in the factory.

“You did a ‘Holy Mary’ job to give us the upgrades, thanks to you, but there’s still a lot work to do… anyway, we won at our home, as in 2019. You’re incredible.”