Monegasque Charles Leclerc has yet to stand on the princely podium at the Monaco Grand Prix since making his F1 debut in 2018, but that’s not his aim this year: “Finishing second or third doesn’t interest me, it doesn’t really excite me. I’m aiming for victory, nothing else, and I think that with the progress Ferrari has made this year, I can achieve that. There’s less of a gap between Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari. Everything will depend on qualifying on Saturday, because if I’m on pole position on Sunday, I know I’ll have a good chance of winning the race”, said the local hero on Thursday at the FIA press conference.

As he does every year, the relaxed Leclerc spoke of everything that makes Monaco an “extra-special” event, because he was born in the Principality, because he lives here and because he knows every inch of Circuit de Monaco. “We have a better car, Imola showed that, we’re moving in the right direction”, the Ferrari driver also emphasised. He also spoke of the notion of risk, and explained that in Monaco everything depends on risk assessment

« I think what you have in Monaco that you have maybe a little bit less on other tracks, on other city tracks as well, is just a risk assessment. And that’s where a driver can make a bit more the difference by taking more risk. It either pays off or not at all. But this is something that I particularly appreciate from this track. As soon as you try and go a bit more on the limit, you straight away see it on the lap time. And obviously coming into Q3, having done so many laps, you start to get pretty close with the walls. But it’s exciting. I don’t get that feeling anywhere else on the calendar. So I think risk assessment is what makes the difference here in Monaco ».

On the subject of risk, Max Verstappen, the three-time reigning world champion and two-time winner in the Principality (2021, 2023), added a very specific comment for the young drivers: “You have to make mistakes to progress. It’s important to make them because even though you tell yourself all the time I cannot do this or I cannot do that, you will only adapt really if you make them and then move forward”. During this very relaxed conference, the leader of Red Bull Racing, but also of the younger generation, was listened to very attentively by the other participants, George Russell (Mercedes), Alex Albon (Williams), Yuki Tsunoda (RB) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine).

To add a little more excitement for the fans, on the eve of the first two free practice sessions on Friday afternoon, Russell indicated that his Mercedes was also making “progress”, and that all the work carried out over the last few weeks, and the recent developments, had made it “more consistent over a lap, better balanced between slow and fast corners”. This gives cause for hope on the Monaco circuit, which generally limits the differences in pure performance and compensates for them with more aggressive driving, close to the safety rails.

All the drivers present agreed on one point: Saturday will be crucial, and anything is possible in qualifying. Just like last year, when Esteban Ocon put in a fantastic lap in his Alpine to secure 3rd place on the grid, just behind Verstappen. He then turned that into a fine 3rd place on the princely podium, his only podium in 2023 (two for Alpine with Pierre Gasly in Zandvoort). That’s what Monaco is all about.