Leclerc details 'perfect scenario' to finally claim historic Monaco victory

Charles Leclerc has revealed what the "perfect scenario" is for Ferrari to finally end his Monaco Grand Prix curse after claiming a stunning pole position. 

Leclerc mastered the Circuit de Monaco and claimed pole position by 0.154s, courtesy of setting a remarkable 1:10.270. 

The Ferrari driver's third home pole was just one-tenth shy of the outright lap record, held by Lewis Hamilton.

After demonstrating exceptional pace in second and third practice ahead of qualifying, the 26-year-old was the clear favourite for pole. 

Leclerc did not disappoint his home fans and now starts Sunday's race from the perfect position after a perfect Saturday; however, he knows the job is not done just yet based off past experiences.

"It was nice. The feeling after a qualifying lap is always very, very special here," said Leclerc. "So really, really happy about the lap. 

"The excitement is so high that it feels really good. However, now I know more often than not in the past qualifying is not everything, as much as it helps a lot for Sunday's race. 

"We need to put everything together coming to Sunday and in the past years, we didn't manage to do so. But we are a stronger team, we are in a stronger position. 

"And I'm sure we can achieve great things tomorrow and obviously the win is the target."

Third time lucky?

Despite always being exceptional over one-lap at the Circuit de Monaco, Leclerc has never finished on the podium at his home race. 

In 2021, Leclerc secured pole but crashed at the end of Q3. Unfortunately, Ferrari failed to completely repair his car, causing him to not start his home race that year. 

A year later he was on pole position again but only finished fourth, following a strategic catastrophe by Ferrari. 

Having claimed Monaco pole once again, Leclerc will be hoping its third time lucky, with the first task on Sunday being to make an excellent start to lead into Sainte Devote.

"I need a good launch," stressed Leclerc. "I need a good launch off the grid and then once we do that, then hopefully Carlos can have a great start and follow me into turn one and be one-two.

"And if we are one-two, then we can manage that as a team. That will be the perfect scenario. But whatever happens we just need to bring that victory home."