Charles Leclerc looked like the favourite at the Monaco Grand Prix throughout practice. He was quickest in both FP2 and FP3, both times by a margin of nearly two-tenths.
With Max Verstappen and Red Bull looking uncomfortable on the streets of the principality, the door was open for Leclerc. The ‘Monaco curse’ had been hanging over him heading into the weekend.
Leclerc has scored pole position on home soil twice before without being able to convert it. In 2021, he wasn’t even able to start the race because of a driveshaft issue after crashing late in qualifying, and a year later a strategic blunder from Ferrari cost him.
His first two visits had ended in DNFs after accidents, and in 2023 he missed out on a shot at the podium after a grid penalty. He was due to start third, but dropped to sixth for impeding Lando Norris.
As he looked to secure redemption, Leclerc bagged his third pole at F1’s most iconic venue. He beat McLaren driver Oscar Piastri by just over a tenth and a half.
Carlos Sainz was third on the grid in the other Ferrari, a further tenth behind the front two. It was a missed opportunity for the Spaniard given the Scuderia’s apparent supremacy.
Ferrari say Charles Leclerc has found the ‘bravery point’ before Carlos Sainz
Prior to qualifying, Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft spoke to figures about Ferrari about Leclerc’s advantage over his teammate. He’d beaten him by significant margins in all three practice sessions.
The Italian team downplayed any suggestion that the five-time race-winner had found a superior balance. Instead, it reflected his greater ‘confidence’ behind the wheel.
Leclerc was able to quickly establish how close he could get to the limit without hitting the wall. Sainz, meanwhile, was more uncertain about how brave he could be with his SF-24.
Croft said: “Is it set up? A little bit maybe. But it’s that confidence. Charles Leclerc has been dialled in right from the start, and Carlos has been struggling to find that bravery point, going over the limit to get that extra little bit of lap time. That’s what Charles Leclerc has discovered.”
How Charles Leclerc has felt watching Carlos Sainz win races
Sainz started the season in the stronger form at Ferrari. He beat Leclerc in his first three appearances (either side of his medical absence in Saudi Arabia) and out-qualified him twice too.
The Monegasque admitted at that stage that his teammate was doing a ‘better’ job. But he seems to have made a breakthrough since.
From Chinese Grand Prix qualifying onwards, Leclerc has beaten Sainz in every meaningful session. He’s re-asserting himself within the team, much as many would have expected given that Ferrari have axed the latter in favour of Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc came into Monaco on a victory drought stretching back to the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. Since then, Sainz had taken victories in Singapore last autumn and Australia earlier this year.
In a recent interview, he admitted that ‘it hurts’ to watch him stand on the top step. The duo have been closely-matched throughout their partnership, which started when Sainz arrived from McLaren in 2021.
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