Charles Leclerc dedicates Monaco win to late father

Charles Leclerc dedicated his win at Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix to his later father, saying he was so emotional on his final laps he struggled to see out of his Ferrari.

Leclerc, 26, became the first Monegasque in nearly a century to win a Formula One race on the sport’s most famous streets following a faultless display.

Leclerc paid tribute to his father Herve, who passed away in 2017, saying: “I was thinking about my dad when I was driving.

“He gave everything for me to be here. It was a dream of ours for me to race here so to win it is unbelievable.

“It is only a victory and the season is long. It is 25 points, just like any other win, but emotionally it means so much to me.”

Leclerc has been on pole twice before here. But he banged the barriers in the closing stages of qualifying in 2021, meaning he was unable to start the race.

Ferrari then messed up his strategy the following season and he crossed the line only fourth. Before Sunday’s race, Leclerc had never even finished on the podium at his home event.

“I struggled to maintain my emotions in the last 10 laps of the race,” said Leclerc. “I realised that with two laps to go I was struggling to see out of the tunnel because I had tears in my eyes.

“I was like, ‘oh, Charles, don’t do that now, we still have two laps until the finish’. It was very difficult to contain those emotions and those thoughts of people who have helped me get to where I am today.”

Let the celebrations begin