Dhe first to quickly come into focus this Sunday in Monte Carlo was fourth place in the Monaco Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc, the unfortunate, a modern knight of the sad figure, mute with disappointment: “No words”, “no words “.
For two days he ruled in the Principality among the Formula 1 drivers. But when it came down to winning at home for the first time on Sunday, Ferrari’s strategy failed. And so Prince Albert II welcomed a surprise guest in the box at the edge of the track: Red Bull driver Sergio Perez won ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. in the second Ferrari.
Max Verstappen had a good laugh when he was third in his Mexican teammate’s third Formula 1 victory. In the drivers’ standings, the world champion extended his lead over Leclerc to nine points.
What a mistake in the heat of the moment! Leclerc led the race for almost twenty laps ahead of Sainz. Confident, just like he had won pole position on Saturday. Safe. But a few tours earlier, Red Bull had Perez in third place fitted with tires for the slowly drying track (intermediates).
He immediately reduced the gap behind the Ferrari on the slower rain tires. The Scuderia waits a long time, then decides to do a second tire change for Leclerc shortly after the first one, to swap intermediates for slicks. Except that Sainz, due to the earlier first service in front of the chief pilot of the Scuderia, has already turned in front of him. Two in one fell swoop? no “Stay out”, “Stay out!” the race engineer calls to Leclerc over the radio. “Too late, too late, too late,” he replies, punching a few holes in the air with his right hand. GrandCasino.
Both cars are hissing in front of the door. Both are dealt with quickly, but it takes time, especially Leclerc. Red Bull immediately has its cars drive up. Back on the track, there is a sobering picture for the many Ferrari fans in the fully occupied grandstands: Perez leads, Verstappen comes onto the track after Sainz, but Leclerc, just the first best, sees himself thrown back to fourth place. He swears. Apparently so powerful that the radio traffic from the decency department has to be superimposed. beep. Later there is uncensored: “We made too many mistakes,” says Leclerc, “you can’t do that with me.”
His team boss Mattia Binotto later nods: “Yes, we made too many mistakes.” However, he accused both Red Bull drivers of touching the yellow line when exiting the pits and thus violating the rules. Ferrari lodged a protest. The route stewards rejected the complaints late in the evening. None of the cars crossed the line, that is crucial.
During the race, Monaco Leclerc’s treachery gave a little bit of hope again. When the shreds flew in the middle of the swimming pool passage and a Haas lost form and composure under the force of the impact: broke in two.
Luckily, Mick Schumacher climbed out of the rubble unharmed. What had happened in front of the eyes of the winners from the Bundesliga, Kevin Trapp from Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski, who was looking to emigrate? Contrite, Schumacher admits a driving error. “Annoying,” he says to the broadcaster Sky, “I’m fine on the outside.” Inside it hurts. Schumacher has to deliver.
