Charles Leclerc’s special day did not go as planned after he crashed Niki Lauda’s iconic 1974 Ferrari worth £1 million while riding around Monaco.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc is believed to be cursed at his home circuit, as he had yet another unlucky event this weekend. During the 2022 Monaco Historic Grand Prix, he crashed into the barrier at La Rascasse while on a parade lap in a 1974 Ferrari 312B3.
After driving around the course in Monaco, Charles Leclerc crashed Niki Lauda’s famed £1 million Ferrari from 1974. The Monesgague’s day was going to be extra memorable since he was going to drive one of his heroes’ automobiles around his hometown.
The amazing moment quickly went sour as the 24-year-old lost control of Lauda’s iconic Ferrari and crashed into the track-side wall. Leclerc has had a fantastic start to the 2022 season, with the Ferrari driver now leading the driver standings by 19 points.
His fast form in Ferrari’s current car certainly did not translate to one of their vintage versions, leaving the 24-year-old embarrassed.
Despite the fact that he was completing a parade lap during the event, he was driving the car at a decent speed on the tight street circuit. As he approached the bend, he began to slow down before the back of the car suddenly let go and he crashed wing-first into the barriers.
Fortunately, Leclerc, who is now leading the Formula One drivers’ title, did not appear to have been wounded. Commentators on the Goodwood Road & Racing YouTube channel claimed that the bend was saturated in oil/oil absorbent from prior accidents.
However, the damage was done, as the rear wing was severely impeded, causing it to rub across the back wheel when he attempted to restart his lap. This isn’t Leclerc’s first horror crash on his home circuit; he crashed in qualifying last year, taking him out of the race when pole position looked inevitable.
Meanwhile, Leclerc took to Twitter on Sunday saying the brakes had a fault. Indeed, in the footage immediately following the collision, he appears to be motioning with his hands that the brake pedal had fallen away from him. A bit farther down the road, Leclerc could be heard discussing what happened in the previous race to Jackie Ickx, who was driving another vintage Ferrari F1 car behind him.
“No, but I lost the brakes. I lost the brakes! I braked and at first, the pedal was hard, and then it fell to the floor,” Leclerc said in French.
“I was lucky it happened there because if it had happened somewhere else, it wouldn’t have been good.”
Lauda raced with the renowned car in 1974, and it helped him win the Spanish Grand Prix and the Austrian Grand Prix on his route to a fourth-place finish in the standings that year. This is not the first time the car has crashed; Jean Alesi did the same thing last year at the same event as Leclerc’s horror.
When Formula 1 returns to Monaco for one of the sport’s most historic events on May 29, Leclerc will be looking to avenge his home track misfortunes this season.
