Charles Leclerc First F1 Win at Home
Winning Monaco a Dream Come True For Ferrari Driver
Charles Leclercl
Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc
Ferrari
16
26 years old (10-16-1997)
6
Monegasque
35
Sauber F1 Team
Charles Leclerc’s sixth attempt to win his home race – the Monaco Grand Prix – was indeed the charm, as the Ferrari driver took the checkered flag to the delight of fans.
- Leclerc had five F1 wins prior to the race, with three coming in 2022.
Charles Leclerc first F1 win at home is something entirely different, however, and he admits that emotions got the bet of him toward the end of the race.
“I think where I struggled the most to actually contain my emotions was during the last 10 laps of the race, more than on the podium,” Leclerc said. “I realized actually two laps to the end that I was struggling to see out of the tunnel just because I had tears in my eyes. And I was like, ‘Charles, you cannot do that now. You still have two laps to finish.'”
If there was one race on the F1 calendar that Leclerc always wanted to win it was Monaco. That was his dream as a youngster and it was finally realized.
“I wouldn’t have imagined when I was younger that I would race with Ferrari one day, in Monaco, and win this race,” he said. “That was obviously the ultimate dream, right before being world champion of course, but the ultimate dream. The fact that I managed to do that, I feel like I did not only accomplish my own dream but also the one of my father, the one of my mother as well, who has sustained me in everything I have done since then, and has been an incredibly strong woman when we all lost my dad.”
Leclerc Moves to Second in F1 Standings
With Charles Leclerc’s first F1 win at home now in the books, he will look to fulfill his championship dream. Leclerc trails Max Verstappen by 31 points in the F1 standings.
It will be tough to make up that much ground. But stranger things have happened. Verstappen is still the -700 favorite to win the title, while Leclerc is now the second choice at +800 for those who bet on F1.
Leclerc finished second in the season points standings in 2022, which has been his best season to date. His first year with Ferrari in 2019 had been his best up until that time.
In 2019, Leclerc managed to finish fourth in the Formula 1 championship standing, earning his first two F1 victories and 10 podium finishes.
BEST DAY EVER ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for everything, I love you all ❤️🤍❤️🤍❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/7uBoKnNtwi— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) May 26, 2024
In 2023, Leclerc placed fifth in the season standings but failed to win a race. It took Charles Leclerc’s first F1 win at home to finally get him to victory No. 6.
Leclerc’s victory in the Monaco Grand Prix also served to stir the debate about whether the track is still adequate for current F1 cars. The top 10 finishers were in the exact order as they started. Passing was nearly impossible.
The cars essentially went around the track in a procession with no changes in order, prompting Verstappen to tell his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, “This is really boring, should have brought my pillow.”
The race was anything but boring for Leclerc, who became the first Monégasque to win his home race. It is a victory that he’ll always cherish.
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