Charles Leclerc Pays Ultimate Tribute to Late Father After Monaco GP “Miracle” Comes True

The kid from Monaco, who once took the bus straight from the start, has finally done it after multiple failed attempts. It has been 93 years since a Monegasque last won a race at home. Failed strategy, unforced error, and whatnot stopped Leclerc from winning the Monaco GP. But after five races in the principality, Charles Leclerc has finally won the sixth Monaco GP that he took part in and paid tribute to his late father.

Charles Leclerc’s father passed away before Monegasque could sign for Ferrari. However, to give his father that one final happiness, Leclerc lied to his father and told him that he signed for Ferrari while he was still driving for Alfa Romeo. He explained to his father that Ferrari hadn’t yet announced it because of some confidential reasons. But it wasn’t a lie, as Leclerc made it happen and signed for Ferrari.

After winning his first Monaco GP, Charles Leclerc got emotional and paid tribute to his father. During the post-race interview, Charles Leclerc said, “No words can explain that [first Monaco win]. It’s such a difficult race. The fact that twice I started the race in pole position and we couldn’t quite make it makes it even better. It means a lot. It’s the race that made me dream of becoming an F1 driver one day. So it was a difficult race emotionally because, already 15 laps to the end, you’re hoping nothing happens.”

Explaining how he was thinking about his late father, “Already the emotions were coming. I have to say that I was thinking of my dad a lot more than I thought while driving. Obviously, he’s given everything for me to be here, and it was a dream of ours for me to race here and to win, so it’s a miracle.”

After all the things that the Monegasque had suffered at Monaco in the previous years, it was a miracle for all the stars to line up and for Charles Leclerc to take the win. Let’s see how the race weekend went for the Ferrari driver.

Charles Leclerc’s Monaco GP weekend. From pole position on Saturday to the race win on Sunday

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari came into the Monaco GP weekend with the hopes of finishing on the top step. The SF24 was expected to suit the Monaco GP track, and it did. Charles Leclerc topped the FP2 and the FP3 sessions. The Monegasque wasn’t close to the top spot in the Q1 and Q2 sessions but put it all together to take the pole position with a 2-tenths gap to Piastri.

The race started, and Leclerc got off the line well. However, just a couple of laps later, there was a huge crash at the back of the grid that caused a red flag, delaying the race. Another restart for Charles Leclerc to manage, and he got an even better start this time, managing to hold onto P1. With no pitstops expected for the remainder of the races, all the drivers were managing the pace and tires. Leclerc managed to keep it clean, kept the tires in good condition, and finally took the win.

Charles Leclerc in the cooldown room talked about getting emotional during the final 2 laps of the race and just went on to show how much it meant to the Monegasque.