Is Home Town Boy Charles Leclerc Unlucky at the Monaco GP?

Once a year, the second-smallest country on the planet becomes an entire race circuit. Known for its thrilling races through the picturesque streets of Monte Carlo, holds a special place in the heart of one talented driver: Charles Leclerc. Hailing from Monaco itself, Leclerc’s dreams and aspirations are intrinsically tied to this prestigious event. However, a closer look reveals a series of unfortunate events that have left many wondering if Leclerc is destined for misfortune at his home Grand Prix.

Going into the 2023 Monaco GP, it’s not just the fact that it’s Leclerc’s home GP that makes him want to triumph on the oldest streets of Formula 1. It is also a tapestry of triumphs, tragedies, and legendary moments, etching itself into the very fabric of motorsport history. And here, our beloved Monegasque has proven to be unlucky ever since his Formula 2 debut!

Charles Leclerc stepped into Formula 2 in 2017 and finished 18th in his home sprint race and retired in the featured race, making it his worst finish of the year. Next year, he made his Formula 1 debut with Sauber, and guess what? A retirement again!

Then came Leclerc’s stint with Ferrari. Ongoing until now and running well into its fifth year, the bad luck in his home race continues for Ferrari’s golden boy. Since 2019, he has participated in three rounds of the Monaco GP with the stable and finished only as high as third in 2022, thanks to the strategy blunder, when he was looking strong to win and bring an end to the curse. But before the 2022 race, in 2019, he retired from the race. In 2021, after the venue returned to the calendar after the COVID-19 pandemic, Leclerc qualified on pole with positive signs for him. However, fate had different plans for him, as he even failed to start after the team failed to repair his car following a crash.

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No matter where he goes, from the past record, it appears that there’s no running away from misfortune for the hometown boy. Even when he was running Niki Lauda’s 312T in 2022 at the Historic Monaco Grand Prix, he endured a brake failure. Will there be an end to it soon? We hope so.

What does Leclerc think of his streak of poor luck?

Different people in the sport hold different opinions of Leclerc’s misfortune at the Monaco GP. It appears almost as if the year he wins there, the gods of Formula 1 will come down and finally bless him to win the world driver’s championship.

Previously, Jack Nicholls, a BBC commentator, called Leclerc’s luck at the Monaco GP not a case of bad luck but of witchcraft! As quoted by Scuderia Fans, he said, “The chances…when he’s on pole, and then he does the job still – he’s still nailing it. Even the ones where he’s been leading in F2 and the car fails. I don’t believe in [the curse], but the case for witchcraft is getting stronger and stronger!”

But what does Leclerc himself think of the curse or luck? Spoiler alert: It’s on the same lines as ours. In a tweet after his crash in iconic Niki Lauda’s Ferrari, Leclerc said, “When you thought you already had all the bad luck of the world in Monaco and you lose the brakes into Rascasse with one of the most iconic historical Ferrari Formula 1 [cars],” with an upside-down face and pistol emojis.

His opinion ahead of the race, however, was a bit different. He was quoted by Formula1.com as saying, “Of course, it’s not been the luckiest track for me overall but it’s life, it happens, it’s part of motorsport and sometimes things just don’t go your way.”

Charles Leclerc Losing the Win in 2022

The 2022 F1 season brought hope and a glimmer into the eyes of Tifosi. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were battling neck and neck, and the latter just stood six points away from the Dutchman coming to his home race. The curse had different things in mind even as Leclerc stood on the pole for Sunday, in front row lockup with his teammate Carlos Sainz.

The Monaco GP has often been criticized for its slow corners, resulting in slow speeds and fewer overtaking chances. This has also given the track a reputation for holding “boring”, “uninteresting,” and “slow” races, as in recent years, qualifying on the pole usually got you a win on one of the slowest, if not the slowest, circuits on the F1 calendar. But the rain last year aided in making it one of the best races of the season and one of the worst for Leclerc, as he couldn’t win the race thanks to Ferrari’s chronic strategy issues.

On lap 17, Sergio Pérez was the first among the top drivers to pit for intermediate tires, followed by Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc on lap 19. This left Carlos Sainz Jr. in the lead, as he was the only driver in the top four still on wet tires. However, on lap 21, Sainz received instructions from his team to pit and switch directly from wet tires to slick tires. Initially, Leclerc was also told to pit via team radio, but the instruction was retracted after he had already committed to entering the pit lane. Both Ferrari cars ended up pitting, with Sainz and Leclerc switching to the hard tires, with Leclerc’s pit stop delayed due to the double stack.

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As a result, Leclerc dropped back to fourth, trailing Verstappen. Sainz, on the other hand, rejoined the track in second place, behind Pérez but ahead of Verstappen, as Red Bull’s over-cut strategy proved successful.

Do you think Leclerc will be able to break the jinx this time around? Let us know in the comments below.