Charles Leclerc fights back tears in tribute to late father after Monaco GP win
Charles Leclerc won his home race at the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time on Sunday and could barely contain his emotions as he processed what he had just achieved
Charles Leclerc after winning the Monaco Grand Prix (
Image: Formula 1 via Getty Im
His roar of delight could be heard even over the celebratory horns of the megayachts anchored in Port Hercule.
It was made of equal parts relief and delight. The curse was broken and Charles Leclerc was finally a Monaco Grand Prix winner. He punched the air twice before diving into the army of Ferrari mechanics who had gathered to pay tribute to their driver.
It turned out Leclerc needed more time to gather his emotions before his interview on the start-finish straight. The 26-year-old fought back tears as he said: “It’s the race that made me dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver one day.
“It was a difficult race emotionally. Already 15 laps before the end I was just hoping that nothing would happen.” Leclerc also paid tribute to his father, Herve, who died in 2017 after a long illness and never got to see his son race in F1.
He added: “I was thinking of my dad a lot more than I thought while driving. He gave everything for me to be here. It was a dream of ours to race here and to win, so it’s unbelievable.”
Leclerc had been on pole position twice before at his home race. He never managed to start in 2021 after a mechanical problem on the reconnaissance lap, while a year later Ferrari botched their pit stop strategy and he had to settle for fourth place.
He said after his third Monaco pole on Saturday that he believed the team is in a better position to capitalise this time. And that proved to be the case as he avoided first-lap chaos to lead from start to finish and looked comfortable throughout.
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