The most awaited triumph
The third time was the good one for Charles Leclerc: after the 2021 and 2022 editions of the Monaco GP in which the Ferrari driver had won pole position without being able to transform it into victory, this time the curse of the Principality has been dispelled. For Leclerc it is the first victory since the 2022 Austrian GP and for Ferrari this is the first success on the streets of Monte Carlo since 2017, when Sebastian Vettel triumphed.
Interviewed by Sky Sport F1, the #16 of the red car revealed, even after the race, all the emotions he carried within himself during the 78 laps of the race and especially in the final laps, when there was more time in his head to think to the special meaning of this podium. “In Monza in 2019 I was emotional, but today in the last 15-20 laps I lived my personal life, something that had never happened to me – said Leclerc – I thought about the people who are no longer here today: my father, Jules , and it was difficult to manage. At the same time, luckily this was the moment of the race in which they let me push the hardest.”
The final tears
“With 2 laps to go I struggled to see at the exit of the tunnel because I had tears – the idol of the Ferrari fans then added – something that had never happened to me. But then I just took the car home. This emotion is given by a combination of many things, such as the two poles which for one reason or another I was unable to convert into a victory. There was a lot of waiting, but it was worth it.”
Weekend dominated
Finally, Leclerc took stock of a weekend dominated from the first free practice session, but which still presented several pitfalls: “I’m happy to know that Vasseur was convinced that I would have made it from the first lap of FP1. As a rider I had to seek the limit step by step, so it wasn’t an easy weekend to manage. In Q1 it was the most difficult moment, in which we had to recover, but in the race everything was under control and I think it showed in the last laps when I pushed harder. I’m really happy,” he concluded.
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