Most Formula One Drivers dream of three things; win the World Championship, win the Monaco Grand Prix, and win their home Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Ayrton Senna, and Nigel Mansell all famously accomplished these goals. For Charles Leclerc, two of those dreams combined into one. Monaco was his home, he grew up just a couple blocks away from the Monte Carlo Circuit. He witnessed his mentor Jules Bianchi score points here in a car that belonged at the back of the grid. This race was everything to the young Monegasque, and he longed to win this event.
However, for Charles, the journey would be filled with torment, disaster, and heartbreak. Fate was not with him throughout the early stages of his career, and he found every way to lose the Monaco Grand Prix. In the midst of a dominant Formula 2 season in 2017, Leclerc's only hiccup came in the form of a double DNF in the Sprint and Feature races at Monaco.
In his maiden season in Formula 1, driving for Alfa Romeo Sauber in 2018, he would experience a brake failure and a hard crash into the Nouvelle Chicane. This was one of the hardest crashes of his young career, and he DNF'd his first career Monaco Grand Prix. Despite a successful rookie season, this result was one that hurt him.
In 2019, he got another crack at it, this time driving for the legendary Scuderia Ferrari. He had delivered on the hype to start the season heading into the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, but his weekend was a disaster from the start. He had a qualifying crash that saw him start towards the back of the grid, already putting him into a nearly irrecoverable hole to start the race. However, it got worse in the Grand Prix, as he suffered a puncture after with the wall, derailing his race and forcing him to retire from the Grand Prix. 2 attempts, 2 DNFs.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020, Charles would not get to race in his home, so we move to 2021. It had been a difficult era for Ferrari, after an engine ban forced the team to restart their engine program from scratch, leading to disastrous underperformance. 2020 was miserable for the Italian team, finishing 6th in the Constructors Championship and recording only 3 total podium finishes. 2021 started off equally as disappointing, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz running a glorified midfield car. Entering Monaco, the team was desperate for a spark, and for a second, it looked like Leclerc was providing it. Leclerc was fast all weekend, going toe to toe with World Championship contender Max Verstappen, and Leclerc was challenging for pole position in Q3, before crashing on his final qualifying lap. Although the red flag secured him pole, the damage could not be fixed, and Leclerc was unable to start the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. Devastation.
Entering a new era of regulations in 2022, Ferrari finally reemerged as a contending team with a contending car. Charles Leclerc had won 2 of the first 3 races and was leading the World Championship entering Monaco. The weekend started off as a dream, with the 16 Ferrari being the best all weekend, and Leclerc put it on pole again, this time without crashing. Things seemed perfect...too perfect. The race would begin behind the safety car as torrential downpours rained down on the Circuit de Monaco. Leclerc led from the start, but then the rain eased up enough for intermediate tires, and disaster struck. Ferrari blundered the timing of pit stops and strategy, and Leclerc was dropped from leading the race to 4th, where he would stay until the finish. Leclerc had finally finished the race at home, but victory was ripped from his hands in heartbreaking fashion once again.
In 2023, Ferrari once again produced an underwhelming car, but unlike in 2021 and 2022, Charles Leclerc was largely uncompetitive throughout the weekend. He qualified down in 4th place and would finish in 6th in a rain-soaked event. Leclerc finally walked away without drama, but his hand was still empty, seeking the trophy he long desired.
Charles Leclerc began the 2024 season on one of his strongest notes, rattling off top 5 finishes in every race leading up to Monaco and seemingly having all the confidence in the world, sitting 3rd in the World Championship. Something felt different about this Monaco Grand Prix entering the event. Charles was cheery, confident, and ready to tackle his home race once again. For the third time in four years, Leclerc put his Scuderia Ferrari on pole position ahead of the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. Unlike in 2022, the skies were clear and the weather was beautiful. Leclerc led off the line, but chaos ensued on the opening lap, with Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen tangling up the hill and Carlos Sainz suffering a puncture after making with Oscar Piastri. It was setting up to be another gauntlet of a Monaco Grand Prix. However, after that, everything settled down. Leclerc took the restart and held onto the lead, being pressured by Oscar Piastri for the first half of the race. Pit stops went perfectly for the Ferrari driver, and the reality started to set in that this may be the day. Leclerc would rattle off fastest lap after fastest lap and drove away from Piastri. Once the final lap hit, the Monaco crowd rose and cheered their hero on for one last circuit of the race. Leclerc would sweep through Saint Devote, Casino Square, into Mirabeau, heavy brake into the hairpin, clear through Portier, and blaze down through the tunnel straight. Into the Nouvelle Chicane, through Tibac, the Swimming Pool Chicanes, and into Rascasse. The final corner came and went, and Charles Leclerc saw the checkered flag with the stands he watched get built rise for him, and he became a winner of the Monaco Grand Prix. Finally.
For the first time in 93 years, a Monegasque won the Monaco Grand Prix. Ferrari won in Monaco for the first time since 2017. Charles Leclerc cemented his legacy as a legend. Nothing else mattered to him, he had accomplished his lifelong dream. He kept his promise to his father, he silenced the demons of the past. The 2024 Monaco Grand Prix will forever be ed not for the racing product, but for the legend it created.
Comment