With three consecutive podiums, Charles Leclerc has catapulted into the mix for the Formula One 2024 driver’s championship, this time as the victor.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finally overcame his Monaco ‘curse’ to win his home Grand Prix in front of a jubilant crowd at the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix. It was Leclerc’s 6th time racing at Monaco in Formula One, and previous races hadn’t gone to plan.
Leclerc failed to finish his first two races around the Monte Carlo streets that he grew up on, and he could not start the 2021 race despite qualifying in the pole position. A crash at the end of the qualifying session had caused significant damage to his Ferrari car, but it was not realized until the warm-up lap, leaving no time for Ferrari to fix the car and leaving a distraught Leclerc watching the race. Leclerc also qualified for pole position in Monaco the following year, and this time, he started the race and led during the early stages. However, poor strategic decisions from his Ferrari team meant that he lost the race’s lead during the crucial race-stop phase. Leclerc would go on to finish fourth in the race.
This year–and for the third time at Monaco–Leclerc qualified in pole position after excelling during practice sessions. The only thing that could stop Leclerc this time was another major misfortune, the so-called “curse.” Despite thinking about the worst happening as he spun around the course, Leclerc would not be denied this time, becoming the first home-grown winner of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Leclerc’s Ferrari partner, Carlos Sainz, played a perfect support role throughout the race, eventually finishing third. Even Prince Albert of Monaco was visibly emotional during the post-race podium celebrations as he presented the winner’s trophy. As the home crowd cheered wildly, the prince joined the champagne spraying on the podium, something new for a presentation dignitary.
For Leclerc, it was unrivaled joy at finally winning the race, which was his first Grand Prix victory since Austria in 2022. Since that win, Leclerc had started on the pole 12 times but without securing a race victory–an unwanted record for the most consecutive failings of converting pole positions into race-day victories.
But that has now changed, and it adds to Leclerc’s 2024 successes, having stood on the podium after the last three races, 3rd in Miami and at Imola, and now a win in Monte Carlo. That string of positives has closed the gap with championship leader Max Verstappen, whom Leclerc now trails by 31 points.
Verstappen is still the favorite to claim his 4th driver’s championship. However, it’s now becoming clear that other drivers–Leclerc and Lando Norris, to name two–are taking the fight to Verstappen.
Who knows? Sunday’s King Charles of Monaco may soon become King Charles of Formula One.
