29/05/2024
NEWS STORY
Now that he's finally won his home race, Charles Leclerc insists that he never believed there was a curse on him at the event.
In 2018, racing for Haas, he suffered brake failure 8 laps from the flag, while the following year, now with Ferrari, he suffered damage to his car after clashing with Nico Hulkenberg at Rascasse.
When F1 returned to Monaco in 2021, the youngster, who was set to start from pole, didn't even make it to the grid, "no, no, no, the gearbox guys," he cried as his car ground to a halt . Though it was hoped he might yet make the start, the Maranello outfit subsequently announced that there was "an issue with the driveshaft which is impossible to fix in time".
In 2022, despite starting from pole again, he lost out to poor strategy from his team, while last year, hampered by a grid penalty for impeding Lando Norris in Q3, he could only manage sixth.
All of which led to the claims that he was cursed as far as his home race is concerned.
"I never believed in the curse," he declared on Sunday afternoon, having removed that particular monkey from his back. "However, it always felt very difficult on the two occasions I had to win here. One, I couldn't even start the race. The second one, we didn't make the right choice, I think. So it was very, very frustrating to lose those wins.
"The thing is that as a driver, you never really know when will be the next opportunity to win," he added, "especially when it's your home race. Even more so when your home race is Monaco, that is such a special track, such a difficult track and such a difficult weekend to master and to do everything perfectly, which we did.
"So I knew that today was another opportunity. I knew how it felt the last two times I was in this position. But I obviously really wanted to get that victory today."
Asked if he felt any particular anxiety ahead of the race, considering his previous experiences, he admitted: "There's a bit of tension. But as I've said, as soon as I put the helmet on, as soon as I get into the car, I don't feel anything anymore.
"Then it's all about trying to maximize the car that you have, thinking about the tyres and thinking about all the stuff that I had to think of to manage this race the best way possible. So it's more the moment before the race and before putting the helmet on."
He also insists that he doesn't approach the race any differently.
"What I try to do and what I do is to try and keep things as stable as possible," he said. "And whenever I go on a weekend, you just try and do exactly the same thing as what you've done in the previous weekend, learning from mistakes.
"Obviously always striving to improve and get better. But it's always very fine tuning and very little changes in the approach that you have. And it's not specific to Monaco compared to others.
"It's a different approach in free practice just because it is a street track, but yeah I don't feel like I've done anything very differently compared to the past."