At the Monaco Grand Prix, the most cheered F1 driver of the weekend, Charles Leclerc, took pole for the first time this season. However, he might not be able to celebrate this incredible accomplishment with a wide smile, as the Monegasque has wrecked his Ferrari around turn 15.
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The Ferrari driver posted a brilliant lap time during his initial Q3 run and was over 0.2 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen. What’s more, neither his teammate, Carlos Sainz, nor the Mercedes duo had the pace to fight against the flying Monegasque.
Hence, it looked like he could secure the pole position with a rather minimal effort. But that was not the case, as Verstappen was on an incredible final lap, and was on course to rise up as the pole man, but was denied by Leclerc at the very last moment.
However, Leclerc might have just complicated his hopes of using the track position to win his home race by shunting his car into the barriers.
What’s more, considering the intensity of the impact, the likelihood of Ferrari opting for a gearbox change is quite significant. And this will leave Leclerc with a burden of three to five-place grid penalty, Consequently, this will also allow Verstappen to steal the front seat at the start of Sunday’s race.
How did the Charles Leclerc crash unfold?
As expected, Leclerc had just warmed his tires up to chase after his second flying lap of Q3. He had a decent couple of sectors. However, as he turned his Ferrari into the tricky turn 15, he ended up clipping his front-right tire onto the edge of the barrier, breaking the suspension.
Reuters
Formula One F1 – Monaco Grand Prix – Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco – May 22, 2021 Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc reacts after getting pole position in qualifying Pool via REUTERS/Sebastien Nogier
Ultimately, with broken steering, Leclerc was just a passenger to what followed, as he watched his car slam into the barriers at the end of turn 16.
This collision took the fans on a trip down the memory lane to the 2018 Monaco GP, where Verstappen had a similar shunt at the exact spot in FP3.
The Dutchman clipped the barriers around turn 15, as his Red Bull flew over the kerbs to crash into the barriers.
Nevertheless, Leclerc has still secured the pole position, as he embraced the wild round of applause from his ardent Monegasque fans.
How the fans reacted
The moment Leclerc put his car into the barriers, Twitter blew up with abundant reactions from the entire F1 fandom. Take a look at some of the reactions.
IS LECLERC THE NEW SCHUMACHER???
So, uh, that was interesting wasn't it? Leclerc gets wall and pole - and he'll hope there's no serious damage to that Ferrari. #F1
Leclerc in the wall but gets pole omg the controversy!!!!!!!!!!!!
Leclerc getting on pole and then crashing his car to make sure the session gets ended
Overall, it is a bitter-sweet end to the qualifying session for the home hero. And all eyes will be on Ferrari’s update over Leclerc’s car, and the potential chassis and gearbox changes that the Monegasque’s car might suffer. So, will Leclerc be able to secure his pole position for Sunday’s race?