Why is Charles Leclerc not racing today? Curse of Monaco hits Monegasque again

Why is Charles Leclerc not racing today? The curse hits the Ferrari driver once again, as reports claim he might not race at Monaco.

Charles Leclerc had his glory in his hands as he was set to start the race at the pole position at his home track- Monaco. But in his career so far, he never had a great spell at his own home.

And when we thought the curse has finally been broken, things have gone downhill for Leclerc, as he is reportedly out of the Sunday race in Monaco, courtesy to the left driveshaft issue.

RACE UPDATE:

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. #MonacoGP

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) May 23, 2021

Ironically, the issue has occurred from the crash he took on Saturday, which was also responsible for his pole position grab, which could have gone to either Max Verstappen or Carlos Sainz.

Leclerc was out on the track just a few minutes before the race start, and he complained about an issue in the gearbox while his voice cracked, meaning something wrong.

Following that, the visuals from the Ferrari paddock were heartbreaking for any Ferrari fan, as Leclerc sat in disappointment, meaning it is over.

F1 can be a cruel game. We were looking forward to racing you today, @Charles_Leclerc. 🙏

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 23, 2021

Ferrari’s recklessness?

In the initial investigation made by Ferrari, they discovered no significant issue in the gearbox and the car after the crash and gave a clean chit to Leclerc’s race.

So, naturally, it is Ferrari’s garage mistake that they couldn’t detect the problem in due time. Their fight for the 3rd position on the table is heavily jeopardized when this was their moment in a long time.

Grid to not reassemble

Despite Leclerc getting out, the rest of the paddock will not re-adjust to fill the void above, as confirmed by Michael Masi in a statement to BBC, but at the same time, no car above, Verstappen is de-facto race leader.

Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley asks race director Michael Masi if he wants drivers all to move up one place. Masi says no, the grid stays as it is. So pole will be empty. Means Bottas has a run up the inside of Verstappen from the start https://t.co/OHR5sK9x18

— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) May 23, 2021

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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