Charles Leclerc, who has yet to achieve a Monaco win throughout his career, expressed his disbelief in the existence of any curse.
Charles Leclerc has finally lifted the so-called ‘curse’ of the Monaco Grand Prix after taking an emotional victory around the streets of his home nation on Sunday, but he said after the race he had never believed there was one.
After experiencing a series of unfortunate events at his hometown race, including a double DNF during his GP2 days, a DNS despite securing pole position in 2021, and a strategy mishap ruining his chances the following year, he approached the upcoming weekend with hopes of achieving not just his first podium finish but also a victory at his home event.
Charles Leclerc: ‘I never believed in the curse’ at the Monaco Grand Prix
Additional reporting by Sam Cooper
Throughout the weekend at Monaco this year, Leclerc showcased his immense speed, dominating the track during practice sessions, securing pole position, and leading the race until the very end.
In a moment filled with emotions for both himself and his team, he openly acknowledged that tears had welled up in his eyes during the last laps. His thoughts were consumed by his late father, Hervé, as he couldn’t help but hold back his emotions.
Although luck had evaded him in previous Monaco races, Leclerc confessed that he does not believe in luck. When someone mentioned the “curse” being broken at his home Grand Prix, he politely dismissed the idea without much consideration.
Leclerc, in response to media outlets like PlanetF1.com, stated, “The curse was something I never had faith in.”
On both occasions, winning here posed significant challenges. In the first instance [2021], I couldn’t even participate in the race. And in the second instance [2022], I believe we made the wrong decision, leading to immense frustration at losing those victories.
“And the thing is that, as a driver, you never really know when will be the next opportunity to win, especially when it’s your home race and even more so when your home race is Monaco, that is such a special track, such a difficult track and such a difficult weekend to master and to do everything perfectly. Which we did.
I recognized today as a fresh chance, fully aware of the sensations I experienced in similar situations before. However, my desire to secure a victory today created some tension within me.
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However, as previously mentioned, once I don the helmet and settle into the car, I become completely detached from any sensations. From that point on, my sole focus is on optimizing the performance of the car, considering factors such as tire management and all the necessary strategies to navigate the race in the most efficient manner.
“So it’s more the moments before the race and before putting the helmet on.”
The Ferrari driver responded that, apart from not being able to cook his favorite pizza for dinner late on Saturday night due to time constraints, he had made no other changes in his approach to winning in Monaco compared to his previous attempts.
“No, not at all,” Leclerc said.
From an external viewpoint, perceptions may fluctuate, but ultimately, my goal is to maintain stability and consistency in everything I do.
Each weekend, I make a conscious effort to repeat the activities I did in the previous weekend, learning from any mistakes and constantly striving to improve and enhance my skills.
However, the adjustments required are usually minor and involve slight modifications to the approach, which I believe is not unique to Monaco but applies to other situations as well.
In free practice, there is a distinct approach despite it being a street track. However, I don’t believe that I have significantly deviated from my past performances.
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