Leclerc crashes Lauda’s Ferrari as Monaco curse returns

Date published:May 15 2022-Jamie Woodhouse

Charles Leclerc looks at the camera and smiles. Imola, April 2022.

Charles Leclerc simply cannot catch a break in Monaco, and now he has crashed Nika Lauda’s classic Ferrari Formula 1 car on his local streets.

Leclerc had been in action on home territory for the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, where he was on a demonstration run in the 1974 Ferrari 312 B3 which the late, great three-time World Champion Lauda had driven at that time.

But just as he was coming to the end of those demo laps, the rear stepped away from Leclerc upon entry to La Rascasse, giving theFerraria whack as he spun off into the barriers.

By modern Formula 1 standards the damage was moderate, although it surely will not be cheap to find a new rear wing for such a classic model!

That said, Leclerc is not the first driver to suffer this misfortune. Jean Alesi was involved in a crash while racing this car in the 2021 Monaco Historic Grand Prix.

Leclerc took to social media, seemingly taking the incident in good spirits.

“When you thought you already had all the bad luck of the world in Monaco and you lose the brakes into Rascasse with one of the most iconic historical Ferrari Formula 1 cars…,” he posted.

That was followed by an upside down smiling emoji and a water pistol.

Leclerchas never enjoyed the greatest of luck inMonacodespite it being his home turf.

Last season he qualified on pole for the Monaco Grand Prix, although a crash at the end of Q3 had led to a driveshaft failure on his Ferrari which became apparent on his lap to the grid and that meant it was the end of Leclerc’s day before the race had even begun.

Leclerc has never finished a Monaco Grand Prix since entering Formula 1 in 2018, while he also exited both races in the Principality the previous year on the way to winning the F2 title.