Everything is ready for the eighth round of the F1 season. Ferrari and Charles Leclerc have every intention of dispel the Munich taboo. The concentration is maximum to try to win the home race. The Monegasque has an open account with the Monte Carlo circuit and Verstappen allowing, he hopes to be able to settle everything as soon as possible.
Charles’ GP
The Monegasque Ferrari driver enters his home GP in second place in the world championship led by Max Verstappen. The third place obtained in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix allowed him to overtake Sergio Perez and nominate himself as Max the cannibal’s direct opponent. With his gaze fixed in the mirrors to monitor the exploits of Lando Norris which promises a new battle, Leclerc will return to the track in Monaco, a circuit where he would finally like to win and take more than a few revenges.
“Being in the top three is no longer enough for me, I will do everything I can to win” the message from Charles, launched to the Ferrari fans during the last FIA press conference. His will which adds to the statements released at the end of the last race in Imola: “I am confident that we will soon be able to give him the satisfaction of victory“. The conditions are therefore the best, always weather and Verstappen permitting, but who knows if this will be the right time.
Fred Vasseur was also on the same wavelength and had declared in recent days: “We still have a small step forward but we are undoubtedly on the right path to aim for the most important result soon“.
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The Monegasque Formula 1 driver has a complex relationship with the Monaco circuit, his home Grand Prix. Despite his talent and determination, Leclerc has faced more than a few difficulties and misfortunes on the Monte Carlo track. In 2018, making his Formula 1 debut with Sauber, he was forced to retire due to a brake problem which also led to a collision with Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley at the Porto chicane. In 2019, having moved to Scuderia Ferrari, a strategic error by the team during qualifying forced him to start from the back. In an attempt to move up the ranks during the race, once again an accident forced him to retire. That time the contact was with Hulkenberg’s Renault in the Rascasse hairpin.
In 2021, after having won pole, a problem with the driveshaft which occurred during the reconnaissance lap prevented him from taking part in the race. And again in 2022, again in pole position, a wrong strategic choice in the race during the rain tire change relegated him to fourth place in the final, nullifying all the chances of victory. Finally, in last year’s GP, sixth place in qualifying and sixth place at the end of the race.
Despite everything, the support of the local public has been and always is warm, many hope to finally see him triumph on the track that he knows so well but which has never given him joy at the moment.
This is Leclerc’s house
The Ferrari team is ready to give the maximum in support of Charles Leclerc. Vasseur himself stated: “As a team we want to help him close the open account he has with the Monte Carlo track. Carlos, for his part, really loves the Principality track on which he achieved his first podium at the wheel of a Ferrari, so the motivation for both of them is very high.”.
But at the same time, Arthur Leclerc, Charles’ younger brother and Ferrari Development Driver, also wants to help get the most out of the Monaco GP. “For us it is a very important event. We were born here, we went to school here, and our loved ones live here. This year too, like every year, our family and friends will come to watch the race. The circuit is a few hundred meters from our house, it’s always beautiful! Running in Monaco as a Monegasque does nothing but double the adrenaline“.
The Ferrari strategy
Fred Vasseur is determined to get the most out of his drivers and cars, starting from qualifying: “As is known, Monaco is a circuit on which overtaking with the current generation of single-seaters is very difficult. Qualifying will be of fundamental importance: we will have to try to take that step that we have still lacked this season to start in front of everyone. In the simulator as well as in the meetings with the engineers we prepared in detail and we hope to be protagonists“. For the Ferrari Team Principal, the result obtained from qualifying will be fundamental given that in the last GPs it has always influenced the final performance of its drivers.
A few hours before the official start of the event, the Ferrari team studies the global strategy. Good track position is everything in Monaco and looking ahead to the race, Ferrari will opt for the strategy of a single pit stop. Specifically, in dry conditions the Reds’ drivers will start with Soft or Medium tires to have a fast and constant pace during the first laps of the race. The transition to the Hard compound can take place in the lap window between 22nd and 38th. Everyone is ready even in the event of the Safety Car entering or any adverse weather conditions, rain could upset the race.
