LECLERC THE LOCAL HERO ROARS HOME
CHARLeS LeCLeRC’S roar of delight could be heard over the celebratory horns of the megayachts anchored in Port Hercule.
It was made of equal parts relief and delight. The curse is broken and Leclerc is finally a Monaco Grand Prix winner, his home race.
He punched the air twice before diving into the army of Ferrari mechanics who had gathered to pay tribute to their driver.
Leclerc now a six-time F1 race winner, needed time to gather his emotions before his interview on the start-finish straight.
The 26-year-old fought back the tears and said: “It’s the race that made me dream of becoming a F1 driver one day.
“It was a difficult race emotionally. Already 15 laps before the end I was just hoping that nothing would happen.”
Leclerc also paid tribute to his father, Herve, who died in 2017 after a long illness and never got to see his son race in F1.
He added: “I was thinking of my dad a lot more than I thought while driving. He gave everything for me to be here. It was a dream of ours to race here and to win, so it’s unbelievable.”
A huge smash on the first lap saw Sergio Perez’s Red Bull obliterated after he was tagged by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the debris on track led to a 40-minute stoppage.
Nico Hulkenberg was also forced to retire as a result of his team-mate Magnussen’s rush of blood while esteban Ocon was also out when he suffered damage in a brainless lunge on Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly.
Leclerc survived that chaos but was kept honest by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who was unable to threaten the Monegasque, but also stayed comfortably ahead of Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari as the trio completed the podium.
Leclerc’s victory marks the second time in three races Max Verstappen has failed to win.
Red Bull struggled all weekend and the triple F1 champion could manage only sixth on the grid.
And that was where he finished with overtaking virtually impossible on Monte Carlo’s tight streets.
At one point, Verstappen took to the radio to complain: “F*** me, this is really boring. Should have brought my pillow”.
George Russell was ahead on old medium tyres at the end but the Dutchman couldn’t get past while Lewis Hamilton was also unable to progress and finsished seventh.
Russell said: “It was a long old race, a strange race. The first 30 laps were just tootling around and when Max pitted I put my foot down. Max put me under a bit of pressure but it was pretty controlled.”
Hamilton smiled ruefully after another underwhelming result for Mercedes, desite his extra point for the fastest lap.
And the seven-time champion, keen to look on the bright side, said: “The signs of performance have been encouraging ... all is not lost.”