Will Leclerc break the spell?
The Monaco GP seemed cursed for Charles Leclerc. Before his liberating victory in 2024, the Monegasque had experienced a decidedly varied range of atrocious mockery. Already in F2, when he dominated throughout 2017, he had to retire from the race due to suspension damage, possibly attributable to contact with the wall in qualifying.
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What happened in F2 was nothing but the prelude to the disappointment of 2021 when he failed to start after taking pole in qualifying. Leclerc ended Q3 early due to an accident at the second Piscine chicane, an incident that then presented its bill less than 24 hours later.
The absolute ‘masterpiece’ of cruelty of fate towards Leclerc occurred in 2022 when the Ferrari pit wall managed the astonishing feat of transforming a Leclerc pole position into a final fourth place behind Perez, Sainz, and Verstappen.
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Now Leclerc and Ferrari challenge another jinx in the 2026 edition. The Leclerc-Ferrari duo has just announced the contract renewal, and in the last 19 occasions – starting from Kimi Raikkonen’s renewal for 2009 announced in September 2008 – where Ferrari announced a renewal or the arrival of a new driver, a victory in the immediately subsequent GP did not follow. Leclerc and Ferrari will therefore try to break a taboo that has lasted since 2007, precisely the year in which Ferrari’s last Drivers’ World Championship title arrived.
