Charles Leclerc never ended up at home in Monaco.
Now he has center stage so will he break the curse?
– I am very happy, he says.
No matter what comes tomorrow, we are ready.
In the Monaco GP, qualifying is always critical, as it is almost impossible to re-drive on the track and any overtaking is usually made in relation to the storage station. Therefore, the pressure before qualifying was enormous.
house driver Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, started better. Monaco, who did not finish in the GP in Monaco, impressed with a strong first sector on his first attempt and put teammate Carlos Sainz into second place.
When it was time for the second, decisive attempt, he pushed the gas to the bottom again.
– I was really on the border, it was very hard to get the tires in the right window and the back of the car felt a little slack. At the same time, I was four-tenths ahead of my time and did an excellent job, says Leclerc after qualifying.
Leclerc chases the target flag in Monaco
But there was no improvement. Red Bulls bet Sergio Perez slightly on the way to the tunnel and into the wall, after Carlos Sainz came in and had no chance of avoiding the collision.
Thus, he was marked in red and qualification was discontinued. That gave Ferrari the first start, ahead of Perez and Max Verstappen, both Red Bull in the second streak.
“This is really special,” Charles Leclerc says after qualifying.
He never finished in the Monaco GP, not during his time in Formula 1 nor when he was driving the support class in Formula 2. Then he’s still a track he knows every millimeter of it, the track of his bike, a school bus ride and he walked over and over.
“I’m incredibly happy, it was a smooth weekend and I always knew we had the speed in the car,” says Leclerc, who has qualified no worse than second place this year.
Is it raining during F1 in Monaco?
Now he has a teammate as a minor protective factor during tomorrow’s Grand Prix and has a chance to reclaim the lead in the World Cup, but there is a major risk factor.
The weather forecast talks about precipitation during tomorrow’s GP.
– It would be more predictable if it was dry, Leclerc points out after qualifying.
– But no matter what comes, we are ready.
Not only is he chasing his first home win in Monaco – he is even eager to reach the finish line in the home race.
