Dropouts, team errors and accumulated frustration: Monaco’s curse that haunts Leclerc in Formula 1

Catholics, according to the Bible, know this “no prophet is accepted in his land”. The phrase, religious connotations aside, could easily be applied to the story of charles leclerc and the Formula 1 Monaco GP. Four times he competed in the top category of motorsport on the street circuit of his hometown, but only once was he able to complete it: when he finished on the edge of the podium last year. This weekend, try to break the curse.

Racing in his home country was not a satisfying experience for the 25-year-old driver: retirements due to car problems, incredible mistakes by his team and an accumulated frustration that grew with each passing occasion.

Leclerc competed in his first race aboard a Formula 1 in Monaco in 2018, the year of his debut in the top category of world motorsport. However, He has had a not very encouraging record in the principality. The previous year he had been crowned Formula 2 champion, with seven wins from 22 races, but two of his three retirements had taken place on the Monte Carlo street circuit.

The start of the 2018 season, that of Leclerc’s debut in Formula 1 with the modest Sauber team, had been positive before his arrival in Monaco: the rookie had completed his first five tests and had even obtained a very commendable sixth located in Azerbaijan. At home on Saturday 26 May they finished 14th in the standings.

On Sunday the local driver had gained two positions and was battling with New Zealander Brendon Hartley for 11th place, but eight laps from the checkered flag, at the exit of the tunnel and just before entering the chicane, he crashed with his car against the back of Hartley’s Toro Rosso. The incident, which forced a virtual safety car, left both out of the race.

The crash was the result of a defect in the Sauber’s front left brake disc. “Four laps earlier, I had felt the brake pedal go for a very, very long time. And at a certain point (the brakes) gave up,” Leclerc explained after his first retirement in the category.

Beyond that desertion, his first year was positive and led Ferrari, the team for which he had been a test driver in 2016 and 2017, to sign him to accompany the multiple champion Sebastian Vettel in 2019. That season had a exceptional, with four fifth places and his first access to a podium in Bahrain. But Munich was a headache again.

Saturday 25 May got off to a very good start for him, having been fastest in the third free practice session. But in qualifying he was also unable to pass Q1, after the Ferrari team decided not to send his car out on track in the decisive stretch of the session, confident that the time he set in his first attempt at a flying lap would be enough . to overcome the cut.

“I asked if they were sure and they said, ‘We think so.’ I consulted: ‘Shouldn’t we date again?’ But there were no certain answers. It’s a shame to be excluded in Q1 with a Ferrari, but even more to be at home and on a track where overtaking is very difficult. We cannot afford these things,” Leclerc complained after that unsuccessful day.

“We made a mistake. It was a misjudgment, a misjudgment of what we call the time limit, the threshold at which we think we’re comfortable tackling the next session. What happened today is that the margin that we applied was not enough,” admitted Ferrari director Mattia Binotto.

Despite having obtained the 16th record in qualifying, a penalty for the Italian Antonio Giovinazzi brought the Monegasque to 15th place on the starting grid. From there he had to come back if he was to continue his streak of eight races by adding points. As soon as the red lights went out, he made it clear that this was his intention. On the first lap he overtook the Finn Kimi Raikkonen, on the second he overtook the Briton Lando Norris and on the seventh he beat the Frenchman Roman Grosjean.

But on lap eight he chased Nico Hülkenberg and it ended badly: he tried to pass him at the La Rascasse corner and ended up in a semi-spin. Contact with the German’s Renault caused a puncture to the right rear tire and damage to the floor of his Ferrari. Although he made it to the pits and managed to rejoin the track after changing the tyre, he was only able to complete another six laps as cracks in the floor of the car forced him to retire.

“Today I gave it my all, knowing I had to do something different and risk a lot to keep going. I enjoyed the start of the race and it was going quite well. After the contact with Nico I tried to continue, but I was missing too much downforce and had to retire. It was a difficult weekend,” Leclerc analyzed that day.

After that defection, the Monegasque would chain four podiums, in Canada, France, Austria and Great Britain, and in September he would obtain his first two category victories in consecutive weekends, in Belgium and Italy.

In 2020, the Monaco Grand Prix was off the Formula 1 calendar for the first time in 65 years due to the coronavirus pandemic, so Leclerc had to wait until May 2021 to get his revenge on home soil. That year he had started with two sixth places, in Bahrain and Portugal, and two fourth places, in Emilia-Romagna and Spain.

The weekend started in the best way. On Friday he set the fastest time in qualifying and on Saturday he set the fastest lap in qualifying on his first attempt in Q3. However, on his second attempt towards the end of the session, Leclerc lost control of his car at turn 15 and crashed into the crash barriers. This forced the session to close without allowing rivals (including Max Verstappen, who was losing time) to aspire to a final fast lap.

“It’s a shame to end up against the wall. It’s not the same feeling, but at the same time I’m incredibly happy,” he said after taking his first pole position after the seven obtained in 2019 and the first for a Monegasque on the Principality circuit since Louis Chiron in 1936 . .

In any case, the incident has raised questions about the state of the #16 Ferrari (especially the gearbox) for Sunday’s race and whether any change of parts would result in a penalty that would put it back on the starting grid. “I’ve always had a lot of bad luck here, so we’ll wait and see,” the local opened his umbrella.

The Italian squad reported on Sunday morning that no defects had been found in the garage, so Leclerc could start from the top position. However, the car was also unable to start the race, as a left driveshaft problem prevented it from doing so.

“I am sad, very sad, for me and for the team who were reviewing everything. This track means something very special to me and yet I have never been able to finish a race. It’s hard to assume, but it is. I’ll have to overcome him and work hard to improve in the future”, complained the Monegasque on Sunday 23 May, in which victory was finally in Verstappen’s hands.

This last time was no exception

Everything was fine until Sunday 29 May 2022, Leclerc had taken pole position and was keen to break the curse. Montecarlo is historically a very strong circuit for the Scuderia, who dreamed of seeing the local driver regain the leadership in the World Championship, which he had lost a week earlier due to abandonment in Barcelona. But the succession of events on Sunday worked in favor of Red Bull and the Mexican Checo Pérez.

A few minutes after 15:00 in Montecarlo, the time scheduled for the start, rain appeared which, according to forecasts, was not expected until the start of the race. And the racing started in the pits, as all the cars had to switch to rain tyres. “It’s Raining Like Crazy”warned Leclerc on the radio, while other drivers complained about the very poor visibility.

Fearing that the wet track would increase the risks too much on an already complicated circuit, Race Direction waited more than an hour to finally launch the test, which started with another two laps behind the Safety Car. With the asphalt still wet and everyone very cautious, the Monegasque placed up front and led without major problems. But on lap 22 came the mistake that would have changed everything.

Ferrari told its drivers to pit for the second time – they had stopped for the medium components when the tarmac was starting to dry out, like the rest of the grid – to put on the hard tyres. But he was wrong to call the two together. Sainz entered first and Leclerc had to wait his turn, lost too much time and rejoined the track fifth. And the rabies did not save, which he dumped on the radio. “Why!!! What are they doing!!!”scream.

After a couple of laps under the Safety Car, the race was suspended while the barrier that had been destroyed was repaired. The cars returned to the pits and anger was visible on Leclerc’s face as he got out of the car. To feed his anger, Ferrari once again got the strategy wrong for the restart.

It’s just that while the Red Bulls took to the track with new medium tyres, the Ferraris came back with the same used hard ones they had put on before the stop. And when the test was re-launched, with around 40 minutes remaining on the clock at around 16:00 local time, it became clear that the Austrian team’s cars had much better pace.

The Monegasque, albeit frustrated, didn’t stop looking for the podium, but the Dutch Verstappen didn’t give him a chance and made the most of the performance of his tires with less tread.

Three hundred and sixty-four days after that new disappointment, Leclerc will try again on the most glamorous circuit on the calendar. The most superstitious Ferraristi will already be knocking on wood, looking for four-leaf clovers or dusting off horseshoes to end the Monaco curse for their driver.