Debate | Leclerc counts down the days until end of Ferrari contract in 2024
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The Monaco curse. It is still a thing for Charles Leclerc, as was once again evident after Saturday's qualifying session. The Ferrari driver qualified in a handsome third place, but lost that starting position a few hours later because his team had failed to warn him, ranking him down to P6.
Leclerc has had little luck in his home race so far, even when he secured pole position there twice in a row. In 2021, his race ended before it even started after his gearbox was found to have suffered damage in his crash a day earlier after all. As a result, Leclerc's Ferrari gave up before even reaching the grid.
Then in 2022, everything seemed to finally fall into place. Leclerc once again started from pole and what's more, the race started behind the safety car due to heavy rain on the street circuit. Could hardly go wrong, you would think. Yet Ferrari found a way to put not only that long-awaited home win, but even the podium through the Monegasque's nose with a dramatic pit stop strategy.
A year later, pole position may not have been in the cards, but with third place, Leclerc had a nice starting point to at least be on a podium course. Even this result was not to his liking: Ferrari was so busy keeping the driver abreast of Verstappen's pole lap that the team did not see Lando Norris - who was on a fast lap - approaching the slow-moving Leclerc.
Question | Leclerc cannot break 'Monaco curse' with Ferrari
When Leclerc extended his contract in 2019 until the end of 2024, he looked set for a golden age at the Italian racing stable. Meanwhile, however, the Monegasque has been rudely awoken from that dream by none other than his own team. Would Leclerc now be counting down his days, or will he continue to believe in the team where he once started so strongly?