F1 BOSSES URGED TO FIGHT FOR MONACO

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has told Formula One bosses that the Monaco Grand Prix must stay on the calendar.

Organisers of the sport’s grandest race are locked in discussions with F1’s American owners Liberty Media over a contract extension – Sunday’s 78-lap race around the principality is set to be the last unless a new deal is rubberstamped.

Despite being considered the most glamorous event in F1, the two-mile course has remained largely unchanged from the first grand prix staged in 1929, and some have claimed it is no longer fit for purpose in its current guise.

But Leclerc, 24, born and raised in Monaco, said: “Losing the race would be a bad move for both parties.

“I have never known Monaco without Formula One, apart from Covid reasons in 2020, and Formula One without Monaco is not Formula One.

“Formula One has historic tracks like Silverstone, Monza and Monaco, too, and Monaco should stay on the calendar.

“There is no track that comes close to the adrenalin we get here, and for me it is part of F1’s history.”

Despite the uncertainty, it is expected that Liberty, and the race organisers, are close to striking a new agreement with a formal announcement likely to follow in the coming months.

The Monte Carlo venue plays host to the seventh round of the campaign with Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team aiming to build upon their mini-resurgence in Barcelona last Sunday.

Hamilton dropped to last but one following an opening-lap collision before fighting back to fifth.

Meanwhile, British driver Lando Norris is expected to be fit to race despite struggling with tonsillitis.