F1 Leader Charles Leclerc Promises to Dodge Jaded Monaco GP Tradition in 2022

May 17, 2022 | 7:15 AM EDT

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Charles Leclerc and his Monaco Grand Prix struggles are widely known. He knows the track well as he lives there. Monaco is his home race, but something has got in his way of achieving greatness on his home soil. As Formula 1 is back in the historic venue in 2022, Leclerc has another opportunity to put an end to this bad run.

He is currently leading the standings, so the opportunity to go clear of the other championship contender will prove to be a factor, without a doubt. However, the track has proven to be challenging, especially for him. And during the Historique Monaco GP last week, Leclerc has been struck with the curse of Monaco yet again as he crashed.

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Driving Niki Lauda’s legendary Ferrari, the Monegasque spun and hit the barriers. It is certainly not a good start with the race in Monaco scheduled in two weeks’ time. Further, he has never completed an F1 race in the venue, so the 24-year-old is hopeful of a positive result this time around.

Charles Leclerc is hopeful of ending the Monaco curse

Leclerc has been born and brought up in the streets of Monaco. He knows the ins and outs of the track, but somehow cannot transform his know-how during the race. Despite his poor record in the venue, he revealed the place is special for him.

“There are many things. The challenge for F1 drivers to drive around here, with no room for mistake is something that we all appreciate as drivers and for me also it’s the streets that I’ve been taking to go to school every morning by bus when I was a child. So it has a lot of history in general for Formula 1, but for me it’s a special track,” the Ferrari driver stated.

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During his first year in F1, Leclerc clobbered into Brendon Hartley’s Toro Rosso, taking both cars out of the race. The 2019 and 2021 Monaco GP also did not go in his favor. He clinched a pole last year, but it came at a cost of crashing into the barriers. As a result, Leclerc could not race during the Grand Prix.

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However, this season the former Alfa Romeo driver is confident of breaking the Monaco curse. Asked about how long he has dreamt to win the Monaco GP, he said “Since ever, it never happened yet, so I need to make it happen this year.”

With Leclerc battling hard with Verstappen for the championship, can he finally achieve success in Monaco? We will have to wait and watch.