Charles Leclerc: « I would have liked to win »
Runner-up in the Monaco Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc failed to repeat his victory of 2024. Despite setting a good pace, he came up against Lando Norris and the impossibility of overtaking on the Monegasque track.
Charles Leclerc had to settle for second place during his home Grand Prix, a solid performance but insufficient for the Ferrari driver who dreamt of a second consecutive victory in Monaco. Despite a faster pace at the end of the race, the narrow Monaco circuit prevented him from seriously threatening Lando Norris.
Starting second on the grid, Leclerc expertly handled the start, maintaining his position behind Norris. Both leaders adopted a similar strategy, making their first stop around the 20th lap. Ferrari notably responded well to Piastri’s stop at McLaren on the 22nd lap by calling Leclerc in the very next lap for a perfectly executed pit stop in two seconds, thus avoiding any risk of an undercut.
The frustration of the rhythm without overtaking
In the final laps, Leclerc was slightly faster than Norris, but couldn’t capitalize on this advantage. Ahead, Max Verstappen, who still had to make a mandatory pit stop, deliberately slowed down the pace hoping for a safety car or a red flag to preserve his position. This tactic froze the positions behind him until his stop on the penultimate lap.
Leclerc had then tried to push Norris into making a mistake: « I had to leave a gap to Lando, otherwise I would have touched at every corner. When I saw Max holding back, I tried to push things a bit »,” he explained. Sandwiched between the Red Bull in front and the Ferrari behind, the British driver made a few errors, noted by Leclerc on the radio on lap 74. But despite this pressure, no opportunity arose.
The qualification, a decisive moment
As often in Monaco, everything was decided in the qualifications. Leclerc himself admitted: « In the end, we lost the race yesterday. We should have done a better job. Lando was stronger this weekend and he deserves his victory. » Despite his disappointment, the Ferrari driver put things into perspective by recalling his victory from last year: « I fulfilled my childhood dream last year, not this year », he confided.
Regarding the performance of the Ferrari, he admitted to being surprised: “I didn’t expect that, I thought aiming for the top 10 would be difficult, and in the end, we finished second. It’s still a good weekend overall, but I would have liked to win.” The Monegasque SF-25 showed a good level of performance throughout the weekend. Thus, he dominated the three free practice sessions, narrowly missing out on pole.
Leclerc also showed receptiveness to the introduction of the two mandatory pit stops, implemented this season to energize the race. “From inside the car, it was more interesting than before, where it was sometimes a bit boring,” he noted.
Despite the frustration of not winning, the Monegasque driver could count on the unwavering support of his compatriots, whom he wanted to acknowledge: As a Ferrari driver, we are lucky to have support everywhere, but being born here and seeing all the Monegasques behind me is something very special. It warms my heart to be home and have so much support. I wish I could give them first place, but hopefully next year. He will have to wait before offering his fans a new home victory. In the meantime, the next challenge awaits this weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix.
