Yahoo Autos The Curse Is Broken: Charles Leclerc Wins the Monaco Grand Prix
Charles Leclerc has finally beaten his 'Monaco Curse' as the Monegasque driver has taken his first victory at his home circuit.
With overtaking being close to impossible on the narrow street circuit, pole position was everything this weekend. Leclerc claimed it for the third time; his first two poles ended in different tragic fashions with a DNS in 2021 and a fourth-place finish after leading most of the race in 2022.
After the early incidents between Haas and Red Bull and the Alpine teammates on the opening lap, the race without pause, and Leclerc was set to defend from a calm pace for the first 74 laps.
With four laps remaining, the Ferrari radio tells Leclerc, "Charles, just bring it home."
Leclerc replied, "Thank you," and extended his lead over Oscar Piastri to 8.697.
Behind Piastri, Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz completed the podium. The second McLaren car finished fourth before a large gap pack to George Russell and the rest of the field.
After greeting his team with as many hugs as he could fit into the window, Leclerc met with fellow Monaco winner and Sky Sports commentator Jenson Button to explain what the win meant to him.
"No words can explain," Leclerc told Button, "It's such a difficult race, and I think that twice I've started on pole position, and I couldn't quite make it, makes it even better. It means a lot. It's the race that made me dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver one day."
Leclerc went on to talk about the emotional difficulties of the race after losing it so many times, in so many ways, his mind could've wandered anywhere in the closing laps. Instead, they went to his father.
"It was a difficult race emotionally because 15 laps until the end, you're just hoping that nothing happens. Already, the emotions were coming; I have to say that I was thinking of my dad much more than I thought while driving. It was a dream of ours for me to race here and win; it's a miracle."
Leclerc lost his father to a long battle with cancer just days before his first F2 victory at Baku.
After a poor qualifying performance for the defending World Champion Max Verstappen, the Dutch driver was unable to move forward from his sixth-place position and finished sandwiched between the two Mercedes of Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
The RB of Yuki Tsunoda, Williams of Alex Albon, and Alpine of Pierre Gasly were the final three to collect points in the Monaco Grand Prix.
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