Leclerc anxious to break home race curse with third pole

Charles Leclerc was delighted to claim his third home pole for the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, although the Ferrari driver is all too aware that success in qualifying doesn't guarantee a win in the race.

Leclerc has been on pole at the Principality on two previous occasions, but neither resulted in victory. In 2021 he suffered a driveshaft issue on the grid and failed to start, while in 2022 a pit stop blunder saw him finish in fourth.

It's given Monaco something of a 'bogey' status for the Monegasque, making it all the more important to him to break the jinx and to finally seal the deal in tomorrow's race.

Having been fastest in FP2 and FP3, Leclerc set the pace with a best time of 1:10.270s in the final round, putting him 0.154s quicker than McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, with Carlos Sainz set to start from third.

“It was nice," said Leclerc, reflecting on the session. "The feeling after a qualifying lap is always very special here. I’m really, really happy about the lap. The excitement is so high. It feels really good."

• Read also: Leclerc and Piastri on front row as Verstappen falters

“However I know more often than not in the past that qualifying is not everything," he acknowledged. As much as it helps a lot for Sunday’s race, we need to put everything together coming to Sunday.

"In the past years we didn’t manage to do so," he added, referring to his previous bad luck. “But we are a stronger team, we are in a stronger position, and I’m sure we can achieve great things tomorrow.

"Obviously the win is the target," he added. “I need a good launch off the grid, then once we do that hopefully Carlos can have a great start and follow me into Turn 1 and be one-two,”

“If we are one-two then we can manage that as a team," he pointed out. "That would be the perfect scenario. But whatever happens, we just need to bring that victory home.”

Sainz hadn't been in such eye-catching form this weekend but still came up with the goods when it mattered in qualifying.

"I haven’t been at the top of my game this weekend," the Spaniard insisted. "I’m struggling with confidence with the car, I had bad moments during the whole weekend.

"For quali it’s all about closing your eyes and going for it," he suggested. "I managed to pull out a couple of decent laps, which are still a bit far from where I wish I could be, but at the same time it kind of saved the day.

"It means we can start from P3 and go for it tomorrow," he added.

Sainz has delivered the two most recent wins for Ferrari in Singapore and Australia while Leclerc hasn't been on the top step of the podium since trhe 2022 Austrian Grand Prix.

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