Charles Leclerc expects he will have the chance to take his third pole position in four years at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
But the Ferrari driver, who has never finished on the podium at his home round, wants nothing less than a victory in a race where he has often suffered misfortune.
“The win is what we need to target,” said Leclerc. “We’ve seen in the last few races that Red Bull, McLaren and ourselves are pretty close in qualifying and we know how important is qualifying here.
“So we’ll have to put everything together and if we’re on pole, then that will give us good chances to get what we want, which is which is a win.”
Leclerc took his first Monaco pole position in 2021, which came against the run of play in a season dominated by Red Bull and Mercedes. Ferrari haven’t scored a pole position so far this year and Leclerc hopes to produce another surprise this weekend.
“I feel like in Monaco you always start a little bit from scratch,” he said. “As much as what we’ve seen in the last four races, I think it won’t be too different. There’s still can be some surprises.
“We’ve seen it in 2021, I think, with us, where we were nowhere, but then we got to Monaco and our car was was working very well. So we’ll have to see after Friday where we are compared to the others. But I would be surprised if we are not in the mix for pole at least.”
Leclerc’s best result in his home race is fourth, which he scored in 2022, but came as a disappointment after he led the opening stages before losing time in the pits. He admitted he’s eager to reverse his run of poor results at home.
“Obviously it’s always a very special feeling the Monaco week,” he said. “I think it is for all the drivers, but for me specifically, having grown up here, is extra special. So I’m really looking forward to it.
“We’ve always been competitive here, so I hope it will be just the same this weekend. However, the finality of the weekend hasn’t ever been the one I wanted, which we have worked a lot, we’ve done our preparation in the best possible way and I hope that this weekend will be the good one.”
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2024 Monaco Grand Prix
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