John N
Charles Leclerc swept all three qualifying segments before taking pole position for the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix, and the thrilled Monegasque driver explained that he was finally looking to finish – and win – his home race on Sunday.
The Ferrari driver secured P1 by over two-tenths of a second from teammate Carlos Sainz, who collected Sergio Perez as they touched while racing in Q3, bringing out the red flag at the end of that segment.
Leclerc denied that he was superstitious given his run of poor fortune in Monaco but said that his team’s long-run pace and prowess in the wet bodes well for Sunday as he hopes to finish a home Grand Prix finally.
“I mean, we only did three or four laps, but the [long run pace] looked good, so hopefully, it will be the case tomorrow. There’s a bit of a chance of rain too, but that’s fine. We were strong also in the rain in Imola, so whatever comes, we will try to make the best out of it.”
He added that he felt a ‘curse’ over him at his home race: “No, no, no… I’m not superstitious. We’ve had a smooth weekend, and we’re starting in the best place for tomorrow’s race, so hopefully, we have a clean race tomorrow, and we will finally have a good result at home.
The championship contender was particularly happy with his first flying effort in Q3 when he posted his lap time of 1m 11.376s.
“The first lap was good,” he said. “I waited for Q3 to start and push, and it was a perfect lap, but the one that I’m particularly happy about was the second lap in Q3 that I didn’t get to finish – but this one was really, really good.”
Asked if he was frustrated at not being able to finish that final flying effort, Leclerc replied: “I wouldn’t call it frustrating, but I wanted to finish that lap. I was a bit quicker than four-tenths, so it was a good lap. And I think the onboard is pretty oversteer.
As for his 2021 crash, while on provisional pole led to Leclerc bowing out of the running before the race began, he said it wasn’t on his mind heading into this year’s qualifying session.
“It’s all about building up to these Q3 laps, and I knew the pace was there, I think we were in the right place with the car, and yes, 2021 wasn’t in my head when I was doing qualifying; you just want to erase it, and it was also a pretty long time ago.
“I wasn’t thinking about it, and I just went all-in, as always in Q3 here.”
With a six-point deficit to Max Verstappen, who starts a provisional fourth on Sunday, Leclerc hopes to take his first Monaco Grand Prix victory as he begins ahead of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
