The favorite driver for the Monaco race is Charles Leclerc, being the only Monegasque driver on the grid. Ferrari is ready to help him win a race, but the FP1 did not go according to plan. Lewis Hamilton, the driver with the lap record on the track, shows that he is a 7 time world champion for a reason coming in 1st. Oscar Piastri, the McLaren driver who has had some bad luck in the last few races, followed him.
However, this weekend is looking better for him as he finished the second fastest, being sandwiched by the Mercedes drivers. With George Russell wrapping up the top 3, many are wondering why Charles Leclerc is not in the top 3, being raised on the streets of Monte Carlo. However, when Formula 1 put up a post of the top 3 drivers in FP1, Oscar Piastri’s name had an error, which linked him to the Ferrari driver.
The Oscar Piastri Leclerc situation
When Formula 1 put up a post of the top 3, there was a curious mistake in the name of Oscar Piastri. It looks like even F1 wants to have Leclerc in the top three as in the post. Oscar Piastri’s name had Leclerc at the end of it, showing that maybe the template for the FP1 was made in advance.
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While this is just a silly mistake, Charles Leclerc noticed the post and made a comment on it. In response to the error, Leclerc made a joke saying, “I can adopt you if needed” as that will help Piastri get the last name on the banner.
It is to be noted that the Leclerc name comes with some bad luck at Monaco, as the Monegasque driver has never managed to win a home race. Piastri, being a driver who has never won a Grand Prix, having the Leclerc curse rub off on him, is not something he might want, and hopefully, the error does not play as an omen.
Piastri has been extremely quick in the last few races but has lost position because of racing incidents that made him lose his lead in the last two races. Now that there is a chance that the curse is looming on him, let’s take a look at how it affected the Ferrari driver.
The Charles Leclerc Monaco curse
For some reason, Charles Leclerc has never had a satisfactory race at Monaco. Back in 2018, he debuted with Sauber, and that went south when his brake failed on him, leading to a crash with Brendon Hartley on lap 72, ending his race early.
Next year was no better for him as he was eliminated in Q1, which gave him P15 on the starting grid, a position very hard to gain points from. But that was not all that happened that weekend. A collision with Nico Hulkenberg led to a puncture and eventual retirement due to floor damage.
While there was no Monaco GP in 2020, the next was no better for the Monegasque driver. Leclerc set a provisional pole, but things took a U-turn when he crashed into the barriers at turn 16. Coming to 2022, things got out of hand as Leclerc ended up crashing Niki Lauda’s 1974 Ferrari 312 B3 during a demo run. He also faced pit-stop problems, that led him to finish P4 from Pole.
2023 was a little better for him as he qualified third, but got a penalty for impeding Lando Norris, giving him a 3-place grid penalty. In the end, he finished P6, which was a decent finish for the driver, but still not the kind of performance you’d expect in the Ferrari driver’s home race.
Charles Leclerc has consistently faced issues at his home race in Monaco, ranging from technical failures and crashes to strategic blunders and penalties. Hopefully, Oscar Piastri does not get hindered by the ‘curse’ and manages to have a clean race.
The post “Charles’ Only Hope for Win”: Leclerc’s Oscar Piastri Connection Only Chance to Break Monaco Curse, Fans Believe appeared first on EssentiallySports.
