On Sunday the 26th of May 2024, we were treated to something that same people never thought would happen. Charles Leclerc (a Monegasque Formula 1 driver) won his home race (the Monaco Grand Prix) after a tough run of dismal performances by the team in previous seasons. Join me, Zach from the Political Outlook as I take you through Leclerc’s spectacular weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Practice Sessions:

During the practice sessions at the Monaco Grand Prix, everyone could clearly see that Charles was driving incredibly well. In practice 1, Lewis Hamilton unusually topped the timings chart with a 1:12.1, and Charles had a decent start in 5th position, and 3 tenths off Hamilton with a 1:12.4. From then on, the weekend was dominated by Leclerc, winning practice 2 and practice 3 with times consistently in the low 1:11s. It was starting to shape up like a pretty decent Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

Qualifying

During qualifying, it came down right to his last lap. Leclerc had got through Q1 comfortably, where Perez and Alonso were unusually knocked out early on. In Q2 he was comfortably in for Q3 with a 1:10.8. In Q3 however, Leclerc had to drive an immense lap to achieve pole position. Nearing the start of Q3, he put in a 1:10.4, but many people were uneasy about Oscar Piastri, as he looked as if he was about to put in a good lap. They went on their laps at the same time. Piastri was 1 tenth faster than Leclerc in the 1st sector of the Monaco Grand Prix Track, and people knew that Leclerc would have to put in a mighty sector 2 and 3. He did, and topped the timing board for qualifying with an incredible 1:10.2. A whole 2 tenths faster than Piastri.

Race

Now, everyone wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen on Sunday. At the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari carried out Sainz’s pitstop for the race. However, Leclerc’s race engineer called him in at the same time, and had to make Leclerc wait behind Sainz. This had Charles down just off the podium spots, and threw away his victory. Hopefully, we wouldn’t have that today. The lights went red and all the drivers  got a very good a start off the line, including Leclerc.

The Monaco Grand Prix:

Up the hill they drove, until Carlos Sainz gave a passing kiss to the wall, damaged his wheel. He locked up at the top of the hill, sending him off the track, which brought out the yellow flag. However, that yellow flag didn’t last long, as, coming up the hill, both the Haas drivers and Sergio Perez had had a massive crash. Going up the hill, Kevin Magnussen was right on the back of Sergio Perez, refusing to back off. Perez moved over to the right to close the door on Magnussen, however Magnussen did not back out, and had caused a massive crash. Due to this, a red flag had to come out, to allow time for the Marshalls to clear up all debris and to repair the damage to the track.

Crucially, though, Leclerc was in the lead, and he had a free pitstop under red flag conditions. Every Ferrari and Leclerc fan was very happy with this, because it meant that Ferrari couldn’t mess up a pitstop in the middle of the race and plummet Charles down to the midfield. After a standing restart to the Monaco Grand Prix, Leclerc gets a great start and pulls an early lead in the race. It was then on a very uninteresting race, almost no overtakes, and nothing much happened. So much so that Max Verstappen came onto the radio to his race engineer saying, ‘This is so boring, I’m literally just driving’.

Charles Leclerc Wins the Monaco Grand Prix:

With some of the greatest commentary ever on F1 TV, Charles Leclerc passed the line to finish first at the Monaco Grand Prix. He drove without fault, and he thoroughly deserved it. With hugs and champagne sprays from the Prince of Monaco, celebrations began. Charles rode to his house in Monaco later that day on a bike: a fairly innocuous way to end an incredible day, but nonetheless he wouldn’t have cared.

Thank you so much for joining me in going through the Monaco Grand Prix Weekend. Be sure to look out for more articles from me and my colleagues here at the Political Outlook.

Credit:

Charles Leclerc Wave: ghgossip.com

Crash: latorrenews

Charles Leclerc Victory: nbcchicago