Charles Leclerc is the most successful Monegasque driver in Formula 1 history, but glory in his home race has always eluded him.
For the first time since his debut in 2018, Leclerc finds himself in the midst of a Championship battle in F1. His main rival this season so far has been 2021 Champion Max Verstappen.
He started the season off on as strong note, and led by as far as 40 points at one stage. However, series of bad luck and errors, now puts him six points behind Verstappen.
The next round of F1 takes place in Leclerc’s home country of Monaco, but if past records are to be taken into consideration, things look ominous for him.
Leclerc is the first Monegasque driver to win an F1 race. He’s also the first from the principality to start a race from pole, set a fastest lap, or lead the World Championship. However, for some reason, racing in Monaco has never gone his way.
Leclerc has been a victim of an incident in every single outing in Monaco since 2017. It starts way back during his F2 days, in the campaign where he was fighting for the Title.
Why the Monaco Grand Prix is considered to be “cursed” for Charles Leclerc
2017 F2 Feature Race:
In the 2017 F2 Feature race, Leclerc was looking like he was going to win, before a suspension failure forced him to retire the car. It turned out to be an even worse weekend for him. In the sprint race on Sunday, he was forced to start from the back of the grid, but couldn’t make up places before an electrical issue forced him to retire yet again.
2018 Monaco Grand Prix:
Leclerc landed himself an F1 seat for Sauber in 2018. He took the world of F1 by storm, performing spectacularly throughout the year, but Monaco turned out to be a disaster yet again. A brake fail at the 2018 Monaco GP, led to him crashing into the back of Brendon Hartley’s car, ending his race.
2019 Monaco Grand Prix:
Leclerc joined Ferrari in 2019, and was tipped as the driver to bring glory days back to Ferrari. For his home outing however, it was the same old story. A strategy goof up during Qualifying saw him get knocked out of Q1 before a collision damage took him out on Sunday.
2021 Monaco Grand Prix:
After a year’s gap, the Monaco GP returned in 2021. This time it seemed like Leclerc had it all under control, as he qualified P1 for Sunday’s race. However, a last gasp crash in the last sector during Q3, damaged his car, and he couldn’t even start the race next day.
Leclerc’s crash at the 2022 Monaco Historic Grand Prix
Leclerc’s woes at home began even before F1 reached the Principality. At the Monaco Historic GP earlier this month, Leclerc took Ferrari legend Niki Lauda’s Title winning Ferrari out for a spin around the track.
Yet again, luck was not in his side. This time, a brake failure led to him lose control of his car at the Rascasse corner, and hit the barriers. This worried Ferrari fans, as it seems like the so called “curse”, is here to stay.
The Tifosi will be hoping for the 24-year old to pick himself off, and shrug these records off his shoulder at the 2022 Monaco GP this weekend.
