Someone remarked that success tastes better than anything. That person is me; I came up with that phrase while watching the Monaco Grand Prix. And although it wasn’t my success, I had a taste of it. Charles Leclerc was able to win his home Grand Prix for the first time in his career, engraving his name in the history books, as the first Monégasque Formula 1 driver to win in Monaco, in 93 years.
It was definitely a day that started with sweat and ended with tears, not just for the Monegasque driver, but also for his family, team, and even Prince Albert, the Prince of Monaco. It was a long-awaited win that everyone in Ferrari was ready to fight for. Even Carlos Sainz, the teammate who showed great support to Leclerc and was ready to fight for him.
But before we talk about the results, let’s talk first about what happened during the race.
Saturday was shocking when Max Verstappen qualified in P6, dropping him out of the front row for the first time this season. Instead of Verstappen, Charles Leclerc was on pole with his newly adopted son, Oscar Piastri, in P2, and Carlos Sainz in P3.
We all know that the streets of Monaco are very narrow, making overtaking almost non-existent. So, I assume we all had faith that this Grand Prix would be Leclerc’s, and he might finally win his home race. However, we couldn’t be so sure because anything can happen with Leclerc in Monaco. Especially because he had two close shots in 2021 when he faced a problem with his gear box resulting in a DNS and in 2022 when Ferrari’s strategy destroyed his chance of wining. But, the third time is the charm and Charles Leclerc himself couldn’t believe it as his tears kept running down his face preventing him from seeing properly when he was coming out of the tunnel.
The race started normally with Leclerc leading. However, behind him, Sainz was giving Piastri a hard time. By the time they reached Turn 1, Sainz’s front-left tyre was clipped, sending him outside the track limits with a punctured tyre.
Now you might think to yourselves that it’s crazy how these two managed to create action in lap one. But that’s not even the action. And Carlos Sainz is one lucky man. Why? You may ask. Well, because the two Haas drivers, who were forced to start from the back of the grid, were making good progress until they reached Sergio Perez, who started in P16. Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were on alternating sides. The latter Danish driver was trying to overtake Checo. However, he accidentally tagged the rear right wheel of Red Bull’s car, sending it into the barriers with the Mexican driver inside.
Fortunately, he came out unharmed, but his car was severely damaged beyond repair, so he was forced to retire alongside the two Haas drivers who were also caught in the “accident”.
We are not even done. I know, who would have thought that the Monaco GP, known for
its slow pace, would be so eventful during lap one.
Alpine’s French duo Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon had their own incident. Ocon, who started the race in P11, was trying to overtake his teammate when a contact occurred between the two of them, causing Ocon’s car to jump through the air.
After all those crazy events, the red flag was out, halting the race for approximately 45 minutes. When it started again, the grid was in the original order, as if nothing happened. Just four less cars.
The race concluded with the top 10 maintaining their positions, marking Monaco as Charles Leclerc’s first win since 2022 and his inaugural victory at his home track. This emotional moment saw Leclerc fulfill the dreams of his late father, Hervé Leclerc, who passed away in 2017, and his godfather, Jules Bianchi, who died in 2015 and played a pivotal role in Charles’ journey to Formula 1.
It was a moment filled with happiness and pride, shared even by the rival teams. This is the beauty of Formula 1: sometimes, you find yourself celebrating your competitor’s success and congratulating them as if it were your own victory.
But will this continue with more wins for Leclerc? Or will the Dutch lion reclaim his throne?
