As always, Charles Leclerc is looking forward to his Formula 1 home race in Monaco (today, 1.50 p.m., ORF 1, training). So far, however, the 24-year-old Ferrari driver has always been disappointed. A year ago, after a crash at the end of qualifying when he had claimed pole position, he was unable to start the race. There was no Monaco race in 2020, he retired in 2019 and 2018 and didn’t even finish in Formula 2 in 2017.
The Grand Prix in the Principality should finally bring luck to Leclerc this year. Unlike many Formula 1 drivers who have chosen Monte Carlo as a tax-friendly home, Leclerc also has childhood memories as he laps the street circuit. These overwhelm the “little prince”, for example, when it passes the swimming pool. “I learned to swim there as a child, so I already have an emotional bond,” he says. Ferrari captioned the race preview: “Welcome to Leclerc.”
In October 2010, Leclerc won the Monaco Kart Cup in his home country. At that race weekend he celebrated his 13th birthday. Meanwhile, the hope of the Scuderia is eleven years older. Just before the Grand Prix in his home country, however, he was knocked off the top of the world championship standings by world champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull for the first time this season. Will the local hero succeed in hitting back on Sunday (3 p.m., ORF 1, Sky)?
Leclerc is six points behind before the seventh race of the season. He has won two of the previous six World Championship races, four Verstappen. After three successes by the rival in the Red Bull in a row, Leclerc now wants to counter again. Retiring from an engine problem in Barcelona hit him and the Maranello team hard. “The title is the most important thing. I want the title,” said Leclerc. Since Kimi Raikkonen’s triumph in 2007, Ferrari has been waiting for the next coup.
An exciting race on the narrow city circuit is to be expected. The weathermen announce rain, so turbulence would be guaranteed.
Source: Nachrichten
