Charles Leclerc pinpoints key moment he 'lost' Monaco GP

Charles Leclerc conceded his chances of a second victory at the Monaco Grand Prix were undone when he failed to take pole position on Saturday.

Leclerc had a sniff of the lead on the opening lap of the race when Lando Norris locked up his front tyres into the first corner.

However, he couldn't quite pull off a move and had to settle for second on the road.

With Monaco proving too challenging to complete an overtake, Leclerc took the chequered flag in the runner-up spot despite applying pressure to his rival in the final laps.

When asked if he was somewhat pleased with the result given Ferrari's difficult start to the year, Leclerc said: “Not really, but at the end of the day, we lost the race yesterday. 

“We should have done a better job, Lando did a better job this weekend, and he deserves a win.

“I realised a childhood dream last year, not this year, but considering everything, I think it's a lot above our expectations coming here. 

“I did not expect it. I thought that being in the top 10 would be a challenge. In the end, we are, we are second, very close to P1. So it's been a good weekend overall - but I wish I won.”

Leclerc was forced to navigate heavy traffic during the race as teams deployed games to get an advantage amid a mandatory two-stop event. 

The Monegasque driver stated that lapping the cars gave him some excitement behind the wheel.

“It was good as well from inside the car, because before that, it was a little bit boring. 

“I had to leave a gap to Lando, because otherwise I would overheat everything. So I couldn't be so close. I saw Max was playing the long game. 

“I guess he was waiting for a red flag. That helped me a little bit to put a bit more pressure on Lando.”