Charles Leclerc's luckless Monaco run explained - can he end the curse?
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has an awful record at his home F1 event. Can he turn it around at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix?
Charles Leclerc will be hoping his F1 2023 campaign ignites with a big result on home soil in Monte Carlo.
Ferrari’s lack of speed has made life tough for Leclerc, who has just one podium finish to his name in the opening five races.
Leclerc has made a number of high-profile errors with four crashes or incidents across Australia, Azerbaijan and Miami.
He will be hoping for a cleaner weekend in Monaco, although his track record in the principality is generally poor.
On paper, the Monaco circuit shouldn’t really suit Red Bull, with Aston Martin and potentially Ferrari, given their pace in Baku and how they could get the tyres working, could play into Leclerc’s hands.
Unfortunately, Leclerc’s run of bad luck on home soil stretches back to his days in F2.
Here’s a recap of his run of misfortune around the iconic streets.
2022 - Poor Ferrari strategy
Leclerc was leading the Monaco Grand Prix, but in typical Ferrari fashion, his good work was undone because of strategy.
Changeable conditions always make it difficult for teams to get their calls right but Ferrari threw it away with Leclerc.
In Leclerc’s case, Ferrari misjudged the gap to Sergio Perez behind, who fitted the intermediates earlier, ultimately coming out behind the Mexican.
Leclerc then lost out to title rival Max Verstappen when Ferrari called him in for slicks on the same lap as teammate Carlos Sainz.
Sainz could have won the race had he not been impeded by one of the Williams cars, however, given the Spaniard stayed out on wets and nearly won the race - there’s no doubt Leclerc would have done so given the same strategy.
2021 - Heartbreak after stunning pole
Despite Ferrari often being the third or fourth-fastest team in 2021, Leclerc produced more magic to beat Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas to pole position.
Pole was officially secured when he hit the barriers on the exit of the Swimming Pool chicane, resulting in a red flag period, meaning his rivals for top spot couldn’t improve.
After his shunt, Ferrari conducted routine checks on his car, with their investigation showing “no serious damage” to the gearbox ahead of the race.
This meant Leclerc would remain on pole, rather than starting from sixth due to a five-place grid penalty.
However, on race day, an issue occurred for Leclerc during his reconnaissance lap to the grid.
“Charles will not start the race due to an issue with the left driveshaft which is impossible to fix in time for the start of the race,” Ferrari said in a statement at the time.
Leclerc was unable to start the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix.
2019 - Miserable home race for Ferrari
After missing out on his maiden F1 win in Bahrain, Leclerc hoped to take his first grand prix victory for Ferrari at his home race.
Leclerc looked to have the pace to take pole in practice ahead of the two Mercedes drivers - Mercedes had won every race up until that point - but Ferrari made a strategic blunder in Q1.
His laps in Q1 weren’t good enough to get through and with Ferrari deciding to keep Leclerc in the garage, he was relegated to 16th and an early elimination.
Leclerc’s recovery in the race started well but it was undone when he hit the wall while trying to overtake Nico Hulkenberg.
He sustained a puncture which led to significant floor damage and an early retirement once again from his home grand prix.
2018 - Brake failure in rookie season
Leclerc’s first home grand prix in F1 ended in dramatic fashion while driving for Sauber.
He had qualified a solid 14th, two places ahead of teammate Marcus Ericsson.
Leclerc was running out of the points in 2018, running in 12th place.
He suffered a brake failure into the Nouvelle Chicane which saw him crash into the back of Brendon Hartley, forcing both drivers out of the race.
2017 - Luckless F2 weekend
Finishing off this list is Leclerc’s unfortunate F2 weekend in Monaco.
Despite starting on pole, he lost out to three cars behind under the Safety Car before being forced to retire within a lap of his pit stop with suspension damage.
The sprint race also ended prematurely due to an electrical issue.
