Charles Leclerc is “extremely happy” with how he and Ferrari are performing, having struggled at the start of the year.
The 26-year-old took victory at this home race, the Monaco Grand Prix, having twice failed to convert pole position into a win around the streets of Monte Carlo – something he was able to do at the third time of asking.
After playing second fiddle to outgoing team-mate Carlos Sainz in the opening rounds of the campaign, the now six-time grand prix winner has seized the initiative in recent weeks with back-to-back podium finishes in Miami and Imola, before F1 returned to the principality.
However, Leclerc does not feel his impressive weekend in Monaco is the turning point to his season, contending that shift actually took place a few events prior.
“I feel that the turning point of the season has been a few races ago already,” he explained to media including RacingNews365 after his popular victory in front of home crowds. “We didn’t have quite the car to win a race in the last few races. However, we did here, and I knew that the opportunity had to be taken, and I did.
“So on that, we did a really good job. I’ve had two qualifyings where I struggled at the beginning of the season, but from then on, I worked on my qualifying pace, and since then, I’m extremely happy with the job we are doing.”
‘We shouldn’t get carried away’
Leclerc’s win was Ferrari’s second of the season and his first since Austria in 2022 – ending a winless run of 39 grand prix.
In doing so, he also broke a 12-race streak of failing to turn pole position into a race win, with the 2022 Australian Grand Prix the last weekend before the start of that run. Therefore, Leclerc is not taking anything for granted.
Highlighting how the “specific” Monaco circuit favoured the Ferrari, he cautioned the form shown in Monte Carlo may not continue undisrupted for the rest of the year. However, he is hopeful for more wins to come.
“So, really happy with how it goes, and I hope that this will bring us to many more wins.” he said. “We shouldn’t get carried away, that obviously Monaco is such a specific track, and I think we had a really good car this weekend.
“It doesn’t mean that it will stay like that until the end of the year, but looking back at the first few races of the season, I think we did a great job maximising all the races that we have done, and yeah, we’ll keep it going.”