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Charles Leclerc smashed into the barriers having already secured pole position in front of his home crowd in Monaco in 2021
Charles Leclerc smashed into the barriers having already secured pole position in front of his home crowd in Monaco in 2021
Charles Leclerc arrives at the Monaco Grand Prix hoping a remarkable streak of bad luck at his home circuit will come to an end to provide timely respite from a torrid start to the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Monaco is a place every F1 driver dreams about winning at, but with Leclerc having grown up on the streets the race is contested on, there is extra meaning for the Ferrari driver.
However, Leclerc failed to finish each of his first three F1 appearances at the circuit, before a potential victory was snatched away from him by a poor Ferrari strategy call last year, while he also suffered a heart-breaking retirement in his only F2 appearance at the track.
The 25-year-old will hope that he has got his bad luck out the way before Monaco this year, with both team and driver having endured a disappointing start to the season.
In the first five races of a campaign that Ferrari began expecting to challenge for both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles, Leclerc has managed just one podium, along with two seventh-place finishes and two retirements.
Here is a more detailed look at the series of events Leclerc has experienced at Monaco, which have led to suggestions he is ‘cursed’ at his home circuit.
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place at the Monaco Grand Prix
Safety cars and suspension damage prevent F2 victory
Given how difficult it can be to overtake at Monaco, qualifying on pole takes on additional importance in the principality.
Leclerc did just that for Prema at F2’s 2017 Monaco GP, and when he led future F1 rival Alexander Albon off the start line, appeared in great shape for victory.
Leclerc led from pole in the 2017 F2 Monaco Grand Prix
An early safety car appeared to have given those behind Leclerc a chance to get back into the race, but he showed superb pace to re-establish a lead that put him back in control.
However, another safety car would follow, with unfortunate timing of its release causing Leclerc to lose time to his rivals and re-join in fourth.
As if that wasn’t enough, Leclerc would be called into the pits shortly after reporting dramatic vibrations on his front-left wheel, which turned out to be caused by suspension damage that would see him retire.
Brake failure results in heavy shunt
Leclerc would overcome that Monaco blip to dominate the 2017 F2 season, claiming the title and earning himself a seat with Alfa Romeo for the 2018 F1 campaign.
He would arrive in Monaco having made an impressive start to the season, and directly off the back of his first two point-scoring performances in F1, which had come at the Azerbaijan and Spanish GPs.
Having qualified 14th, Leclerc looked set to miss out on more points as he sat 12th with eight laps remaining, but was once more robbed of the chance to see the chequered flag.
A brake failure saw him smash into the back of the Toro Rosso of Brendon Hartley, forcing both to retire with the cars severely damaged.
Despite the setback, Leclerc would produce a series of impressive performances throughout the season, convincing Ferrari to seat him alongside Sebastian Vettel at the age of just 20.
Nightmare Ferrari home debut ends in retirement
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Leclerc’s Ferrari spun by itself as he hit the barrier with its right-rear
Leclerc would make a solid start to his Ferrari career, finishing in the top five in each of his first five races for the team, including a podium at the Bahrain GP.
However, things would go badly from the off for Ferrari in Monaco, with Vettel’s crash in final practice on Saturday morning the first in a series of errors by both the team and its drivers.
On his first attempt at a flying lap in Q1, Leclerc severely locked up going into Rascasse, spoiling his lap and damaging the tyres in the process. Ferrari left him out to take another shot, with which he produced a mediocre effort to go sixth at the time.
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Leclerc said he had to take risks but ultimately couldn’t fight back after qualifying in 15th
Ferrari’s calculations suggested that the time would be enough to see him into Q2 and opted not to send him out for another run, which proved to be a fatal decision. Leclerc sat in his garage plummeting down the leaderboard as significantly slower cars took advantage of a rapidly improving track to relegate him to P16 and a humbling Q1 exit.
Faced with the near-impossible task of picking his way through the field, Leclerc had acknowledged before the race that he would need to “risk a crash” to do so.
He started well, climbing three places in the opening eight laps, but ultimately took one risk too many. On lap 11 he would hit the wall while attempting to pass the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg, and be forced to limp back to the pits with a puncture.
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SkyPad analysis from Anthony Davidson of Leclerc’s two Monaco GP moves – one that went right and one that didn’t
Ferrari would fit him with a new set, but the damage picked up on the way back to the pits would soon force his retirement, and a dreadful weekend came to an early end.
Surprise pace wasted by qualifying crash
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Ferrari confirmed Leclerc would not start the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix due to problems with his gearbox
There was no 2020 Monaco GP as the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, meaning there was that much more anticipation when the sport returned to its most famous venue in 2021.
Having failed to compete with Mercedes and Red Bull during the opening four races of the season, Ferrari suddenly found enough pace to be in the battle for pole on Saturday.
Leclerc emerged from the first runs in Q3 with the fastest time, but then came a dramatic twist. During the second and final runs, Leclerc would hit the wall, ending the session and denying his rivals the chance to knock him off pole.
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Leclerc was devastated after gearbox issues prevented him from starting his home Grand Prix having secured pole position in Monaco
It appeared to have been a moment of fortune for Leclerc, as Ferrari found no damage to the car’s gearbox on Sunday morning and insisted he was ready to start the race from pole.
However, as he left the pits to make his way to the grid, a left driveshaft issue emerged, which would prevent him from taking any part in the race.
Brake failure on vintage Ferrari confirms curse
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Leclerc crashed an ex-Niki Lauda classic Ferrari during a demonstration run at the Monaco Historic event
If there was any doubt remaining that Leclerc’s luck is out at his home circuit, it was surely confirmed as he took part in last year’s Monaco Historique event just weeks before the Grand Prix. .
Leclerc showed up to the event to drive a three-lap demonstration in a vintage 1974 Niki Lauda Ferrari.
On his third and final lap, the brakes would fail Leclerc as he entered Rascasse, causing him to slam into the barrier.
Leclerc took to social media shortly after the incident with a humorous take, while the team also spoke out to clarify that the crash had been caused by mechanical error.
The only consolation Leclerc could take from the incident was that no points were available to him in Lauda’s classic car, and that he was surely due a change of luck when he returned for the Grand Prix a few weeks later.
Rain and calamitous strategy calls ruin race
The stars appeared to be aligning for Leclerc in 2022 as he dominated qualifying to take a second successive pole at his home track, this time without putting his Ferrari in the barriers.
On this occasion it was Sergio Perez who brought qualifying to a premature end, with a now notorious Q3 crash, but Leclerc was on pole with the buffer of team-mate Carlos Sainz next to him on the front row.
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Sky F1’s Anthony Davidson analyses the Ferrari strategy calls which lost Leclerc the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix
What could go wrong? Well, for a start, the weather. Heavy rain meant the race was delayed for more than an hour, but more significantly added increased jeopardy for the pole-sitter.
With the race finally getting under way on a drying track, the timing of switches from wet to intermediate tyres, and then onto slicks, was always going to be a crucial factor.
The first stage went wrong for Leclerc as Red Bull gambled by switching third-placed Perez onto intermediates. It paid off as Perez’s rapid out-lap enabled him to leapfrog Leclerc, who stopped for inters of his own a lap later.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, when Ferrari decided it was time to switch their drivers to slicks a few laps later, he was made to queue in the pit lane behind Sainz – who was ahead on track as a result of not having stopped.
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Leclerc was left furious by radio calls from his Ferrari team over whether to come into the pits or not
The time Leclerc lost in the double stack, which was made to look more calamitous by the frantic radio messages he had received on his in-lap, also saw him lose third place to Max Verstappen, with whom he was in a tight world championship battle with at the time.
Unlike with some of his previous Monaco misfortune, Leclerc could not be accused of having done anything wrong on this occasion.
Sky Sports F1’s live Monaco GP schedule
Thursday May 25
11.25am: F3 Practice
12.55pm: F2 Practice
2pm: Drivers’ Press Conference
Friday May 26
10.05am: F3 Qualifying
12pm: Monaco GP Practice One (session starts 12.30pm)
2.05pm: F2 Qualifying
3.45pm: Monaco GP Practice Two (session starts 4pm)
5.30pm: The F1 Show: Monaco
Saturday May 27
9.55am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Monaco GP Practice Three (session starts 11.30am)
1.30pm: F2 Sprint
2:30pm: Monaco GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: Monaco GP Qualifying
4.45pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday May 28
7.15am: F3 Feature Race
8.45am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Monaco GP build-up
2pm: THE MONACO GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag Monaco GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
5.30pm: The 107th Indy 500
Formula 1 now heads to the streets of Monaco for the sixth Grand Prix of the 2023 season – watch all the action on Sky Sports F1 from May 26-28. Get Sky Sports