After last weekend’s Grand Prix at Imola had to be cancelled, the World Championship resumes with what is now the sixth round, as well as Charles Leclerc’s home race, on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo.
Frédéric Vasseur Team Principal
We go racing again, this time on Charles’ home turf in Monte Carlo. It will therefore be a special and particularly exciting weekend for him and indeed for all of us.
Together with Charles and Carlos we have prepared this weekend in detail in order to make the most of every opportunity this tricky track could provide. Both our drivers love it – Charles has been on pole for the past two years and Carlos has always finished on the podium in Monaco since he joined the Scuderia – and we will be giving our all to deliver a good result for our tifosi.
Ferrari Stats
GP contested 1057
Seasons in F1 74
Debut Monaco 1950 (A. Ascari 2nd; R. Sommer 4th; L. Villoresi ret.)
Wins 242 (22.89%)
Pole positions 243 (22.99%)
Fastest laps 259 (24.50%)
Total podiums 799 (25.20%)
Ferrari Stats Monaco GP
GP contested 67
Debut 1950 (A. Ascari 2nd; R. Sommer 4th; L. Villoresi ret.)
Wins 9 (13.43%)
Pole positions 12 (17.91%)
Fastest laps 17 (25.37%)
Total podiums 55 (27.36%)
Three questions to...
CHARLES LECLERC, #16 DRIVER
1. How would you sum up the Monaco track in one word?
Adrenalin: that’s the essence of what you get from this track. It’s narrow and bumpy and in order to be quick you have to trust in your feelings. Driving a Formula 1 car here you basically have no time to pause for breath and, in qualifying, when you’re pushing flat-out it’s, as I said, a real adrenalin boost. I don’t think you get the same feeling at any other track and I know that goes for everyone who races here. And it’s particularly special for me as we are racing in the city where I grew up.
2. What are your favourite places in Monte Carlo?
There are many: I grew up in Fontvielle, but this city really has plenty of unique places. Whatever you want to do, somewhere there’s the perfect place to do it: sport, fashion or just relaxing. Personally, I like the beach at Larvotto and I reckon it’s my special place when I’m in Monaco.
3. Your most memorable moments linked to the Monaco Grand Prix?
I’ve said it many times before: I owe my love of racing to my father and to the fact I was born and grew up in Monaco. I was a very young child when I saw the Formula 1 cars racing through Ste. Devote from the balcony of a friend’s apartment and I would play out the same scene with my toy Formula 1 cars. Then, through my father, I discovered the legendary Ayrton Senna and I was able to see just what he could do here in Monaco and I began to dream that, one day, maybe I could do it too. Being able to race today on the same track that contributed to the legend around him is something very special for me.
Profile
Charles Leclerc
Born on: 16/10/97
City: Monte Carlo (Monaco)
Monaco Grand Prix: facts & figures
5. The number of drivers who have been on pole position two years in a row in Monaco: Alain Prost (1983-84); Mika Häkkinen (1998-99); Fernando Alonso (2006-07); Nico Rosberg (2013-14) and Charles Leclerc (2021-22). Better still Ayrton Senna managed it four times (1988-91), while three consecutive pole positions were achieved by Juan Manuel Fangio (1955-57), Stirling Moss (1959-61), Jim Clark (1962-64), Jackie Stewart (1969-71) and Niki Lauda (1974-76).
15. The different car categories that have raced at Monaco apart from Formula 1. Across all of them, 149 drivers have won on the streets of the Principality and, confirming its difficulty, a third of them have raced in Formula 1. Twelve drivers have won in Formula 1 and another category. In date order they are Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Ronnie Peterson, Niki Lauda (with two F1 wins on a Ferrari), Patrick Depailler, Alain Prost, Mika Häkkinen, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez. There have been 68 Monaco GPs counting towards the world championship, with a total of 36 different winners.
26. The countries in the Eurozone that use the Euro as currency, not to be confused with the members states of the European Union of which there are 27. Of these, Denmark has an exemption and uses the Krone, while Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania will adopt the Euro in future. On the other side of the coin, the Euro is used in some states that are not part of the EU: Vatican City, San Marino, Andorra, Montenegro, Kosovo and the Principality of Monaco. This currency is also valid in the British bases, Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus, making them the only places under British sovereignty to use the Euro..
100. The literacy percentage of Principality of Monaco citizens, which is a world record it holds jointly with that other micro-state, the Vatican City.
139. The number of different nationalities among the residents of the Principality of Monaco. It’s an unchallenged world record, as it is the only nation with a figure above the 100 mark.