Sport sometimes takes away, unfairly. Time sometimes puts things right. There was a sense of unfinished business in the story between Charles Leclerc and his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix. They came close to each other on several occasions only to end up shipwrecked at the best moment due to reasons unrelated to Charles’ actions. An open wound, as we saw yesterday after the conquest of the third pole in the Principality. “Tomorrow counts”, Leclerc immediately made it clear, words spoken by someone who has experienced first-hand the difference between a triumphal Saturday and a sporting drama Sunday.
The seventy-eight very long laps completed today put things right. Leclerc had not cried on the occasion of his first success in Formula 1, nor even in front of the red tide of Monza 2019, what until yesterday was (by his own admission) his best victory. He did it today, infecting many of the people who gathered under the podium, including Prince Ranieri, who was also emotionally involved in the dream of a boy he has known and followed for a long time.
Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari, celebrates the victory of the Monaco GP
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Charles’s first was for his father Hervé, who passed away in 2017, with whom he shared the dreams of a boy who aimed very high: to win his home Grand Prix, on those very familiar roads which in recent years had however proven to be tremendously hostile .
The emotional aspect has taken over, but Leclerc’s return to success also has great value on the sporting front. Charles missed the top step of the podium since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, a lifetime in Formula 1.
A lot has happened since that Sunday in July two years ago, but above all there has been a lack of a single-seater that could allow Leclerc to compete on par with Max Verstappen. There were also days, probably the hardest, in which Charles didn’t seize the moment, opportunities that Carlos Sainz was able to seize on the fly. And hence severe judgments, assessments close to quackery come to question an indisputable talent.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“This victory will give Charles a lot of solidity,” underlined Vasseur, confirming that although drivers are handsomely paid professionals, they are not immune to difficult times. An answer was needed and it arrived, in the best way possible. Leclerc laid the great foundations for success in the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix in qualifying, with the conquest of pole position, today he capitalized on everything with a perfect race.
“Deeply I always thought that winning here would be special – admitted Charles – but I didn’t expect it to be so special. With two laps to go, I came out of the tunnel and realized that I was actually struggling to see well because my eyes were starting to tear up. So I said to myself: ‘Charles, you can’t afford to do this now. You still have two laps to go!’. Then once I crossed the finish line I felt incredible joy, it means a lot to me. I have won other times, but today I thought of many people while I was on the track, Jules (Bianchi), my father, it had never happened before.”
When calm returns (it will probably take a few days) Leclerc will also focus on the championship standings, which now sees him second, 31 points behind Max Verstappen. It’s not a question of world championship ambitions, at least that’s not the point today, but rather of a season that started badly and is getting better in an important way. And it is also a question of looking at the future in a more serene way, finding that smile that, for many different reasons, has been missing for some time.
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