Charles Leclerc has insisted he “never believed” in the perception that there was a “curse” on him at Formula 1’s Monaco Prix prior to winning his home race this term.
Leclerc ended his elongated wait to stand on the top step of the podium in Monte Carlo as he managed two standing starts to bring his Ferrari car home in first place.
The Monegasque revelled in an emotional success which had deserted him on the previous two occasions when he started from pole position in 2021 and also 2022.
Meanwhile, Leclerc’s other outings had comprised a premature exit in his first two F1 appearances in Monaco due to a brake failure in 2018 and then damage in 2019.
With Leclerc also having failed to triumph during his dominant title-winning Formula 2 season in 2017, it was touted that he was destined to never achieve that dream.
But while Leclerc conceded that it was tough to deal with the missed opportunities in the past, the six-time winner stated that he didn’t subscribe to such jinx theories.
“I never believed in the curse,” Leclerc claimed. “However, it always felt very difficult in the two occasions I had to win here.
“One, I couldn’t even start the race. The second one, we didn’t make the right choice, I think. So it was very, very frustrating to lose those wins.
“And the thing is that as a driver, you never really know when will be the next opportunity to win, especially when it’s your home race.
“Even more so when your home race is Monaco, that is such a special track, such a difficult track and such a difficult weekend to master and to do everything perfectly, which we did.
“So I knew that today was another opportunity. I knew how it felt the last two times I was in this position. But I obviously really wanted to get that victory today.”
Leclerc has revealed there was apprehension as he prepared for the race, but that internal feeling dissipated once he placed his helmet on and climbed into his SF-24.
“So there’s a bit of tension. But as I’ve said, as soon as I put the helmet on, as soon as I get into the car, I don’t feel anything anymore.
“Then it’s all about trying to maximize the car that you have, thinking about the tyres and thinking about all the stuff that I had to think of to manage this race the best way possible.
“So it’s more the moment before the race and before putting the helmet on.”
Leclerc also denied that his latest success derived from altering his approach, citing that he aimed to ensure that he treated the Monaco GP as he does other rounds.
Asked whether something had changed in his approach last weekend, Leclerc retorted: “No, not at all. And I think the perception from the outside sometimes can change.
“But at the end, what I try to do and what I do is to try and keep the things as stable as possible.
“And whenever I go on a weekend, you just try and do exactly the same thing as what you’ve done in the previous weekend, learning from mistakes.
“Obviously always striving to improve and get better. But it’s always very fine tuning and very little changes in the approach that you have.
“And I think it’s not specific to Monaco compared to others.
“It’s a different approach in Free Practice just because it is a street track, but yeah I don’t feel like I’ve done anything very differently compared to the past.”
