Verstappen has no chance in Monaco
Leclerc overcomes home curse after F1 mass crash
26.05.2024, 17:28
Right at the start of the Formula 1 GP in Monaco, four drivers crashed out, but Charles Leclerc was not deterred by a race interruption: the Ferrari driver celebrated his first victory in his home country. World champion Max Verstappen did not make it onto the podium.
Charles Leclerc screamed and cried into his helmet, in the glittering water off the coast of Monaco the yachts played a concert of honks in honor of the winner, even Prince Albert raised his thumb in the air. At the end of an endless race the curse was actually broken – Leclerc had won his home Grand Prix in the principality for the first time.
“It can’t be explained in words,” said Leclerc a little later, and the Ferrari driver, who is usually so casual, tried to explain with a glassy look: “This is the race that awakened the dream of Formula 1 in me. The emotions came on the last laps and I thought of my father. It was our shared dream that I would race here and win.”
Leclerc’s father Herve died in 2017, shortly before his son’s promotion to Formula 1. Since then, Leclerc had chased the Monaco victory five times in vain, missing it in some bizarre ways, and finally found redemption at the sixth attempt: “The fact that I had already been on pole twice here and didn’t make it makes it even better now.” And by the way, Leclerc actually created something like new excitement in the World Championship battle with this safe victory. For Max Verstappen and his Red Bull, the complicated street circuit was the “worst-case scenario”; the world champion struggled a lot and didn’t get beyond sixth place. Oscar Piastri in the McLaren and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari completed the podium. Nico Hülkenberg in the Haas was eliminated in the first lap through no fault of his own; a spectacular accident ended his race.
Verstappen leads the World Championship standings by 31 points over Leclerc – the gap has not been this small since the beginning of April. After recent, close races, it became clear in Monaco how serious Red Bull’s problems with uneven tracks have become. “We are not perfect, we have to understand our limits and work on them,” he said.
Heavy mass crash in lap one
For Leclerc, the only thing that mattered was the present. He had been waiting for a win in the principality since 2018, but had missed it in some bizarre ways. This weekend, Leclerc made a good impression in the first practice sessions, raised high hopes among his rather euphoric fans in the stands – and withstood the enormous pressure in the close qualifying.
At the drivers’ parade shortly before the start, he waved to the crowd once again, “I just want to get in the car and get it done,” said Leclerc – but when the red lights finally went out, he had to get out again pretty quickly. Because at the start he defended his lead, but a lot was happening behind him. Sainz dared to attack Piastri in the first corner, but didn’t quite manage to get past him – his car was obviously damaged in the process, because he slid straight ahead at the Casino, unable to maneuver.
At that moment, Ferrari’s tactical advantage with two cars in the lead was apparently gone, but further back there was a huge crash: On the way up to the casino, Kevin Magnussen in the Haas touched Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, which then crashed into the guard rails and was completely destroyed. Both Haas cars were also hit, and Hülkenberg’s race was over. “I wasn’t really involved and I’m out anyway,” he said on Sky, saying it was “frustrating.”
Leclerc changes tires
For Leclerc, however, this incident was a gift. The red flag followed, interrupting the race. Ferrari got Sainz back into the race, and Leclerc was able to switch from the medium tires to the hard compound at the front. The mandatory pit stop had already been completed, Leclerc could now drive through on these tires and no longer had to fear any strategic tricks from the competition.
From that moment on, everything was in Leclerc’s favor. He managed the race, saved the tires, because on the narrow track Piastri could not find a way past even a leisurely driving Leclerc. The technology had to hold up, Leclerc was not allowed to make any mistakes – all of that worked. And the curse was broken.