25/05/2025 17:20
Charles Leclerc conceded his chances of a second victory at the
Monaco Grand Prix were undone when he failed to take pole position
on Saturday. Leclerc had a sniff of the lead on the opening lap of
the race when Lando Norris locked up his front tyres into the first
corner. However, he couldn't quite pull off a move and had to
settle for second on the road. With Monaco proving too challenging
to complete an overtake, Leclerc took the chequered flag in the
runner-up spot despite applying pressure to his rival in the final
laps. When asked if he was somewhat pleased with the result given
Ferrari's difficult start to the year, Leclerc said: "Not really,
but at the end of the day, we lost the race yesterday. "We should
have done a better job, Lando did a better job this weekend, and he
deserves a win. "I realised a childhood dream last year, not this
year, but considering everything, I think it's a lot above our
expectations coming here. "I did not expect it. I thought that
being in the top 10 would be a challenge. In the end, we are, we
are second, very close to P1. So it's been a good weekend overall -
but I wish I won." Leclerc was forced to navigate heavy traffic
during the race as teams deployed games to get an advantage amid a
mandatory two-stop event. The Monegasque driver stated that
lapping the cars gave him some excitement behind the wheel. "It was
good as well from inside the car, because before that, it was a
little bit boring. "I had to leave a gap to Lando, because
otherwise I would overheat everything. So I couldn't be so close. I
saw Max was playing the long game. "I guess he was waiting for a
red flag. That helped me a little bit to put a bit more pressure on
Lando."
