The Monaco F1 curse Leclerc is looking to shake

The odds are heavily stacked in his favour for Sunday given the difficulty in overtaking around the streets – yet this is a result that goes far beyond the academic result.

Leclerc grew up in Monaco, and now finds himself racing around the streets which he would navigate on the bus to school every day as a kid. He gave a nod to his childhood connection to the track on social media earlier this week, sharing a touching piece of artwork of himself next to his Ferrari talking to his younger self by a go-kart. 

A win in Monaco would mean the world to Leclerc – but even finishing the race would be an achievement, given his rotten record around his home streets. In five attempts, Leclerc has failed to see the chequered flag in Monaco, leaving him with a ‘curse’ he will look to shake today.

F2 2017: Double DNF after looking dominant

Leclerc’s first time racing in Monaco came in 2017 during his successful charge to the Formula 2 title that would cement him a place on the F1 grid for the following year.

Leclerc topped both practice and qualifying, taking pole by just twelve thousandths of a second ahead of Alex Albon. He was able to open up a healthy lead over Oliver Rowland approaching half-distance, only to get caught out by a safety car period that dropped him down to fourth. Things went from bad to worse when a mechanical issue on the front-left tyre after his pit stop forced Leclerc to retire.

Writing in his column for Motorsport.com at the time, Leclerc admitted he knew after that his weekend was “finished”, given he would have to start the sprint race from the back. He struggled to make much progress from 17th on the grid, tangling with Norman Nato in an incident that resulted in a time penalty before Leclerc pulled into the pits and retired, marking two DNFs to start his Monaco record.

F1 2018: Brake failure leads to big crash

Charles Leclerc, Sauber C37

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport…