I absolutely love the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. The biennial event allows spectators to watch and at home watch 97-year-old racing machines compete on the streets that have been used for more than 90 years. This also creates the opportunity for classic race cars worth millions of dollars to crash into the Armco fence. You would never expect to see the current Formula One point leader, though, put the rear wing of a 1970s Ferrari F1 car into the hurdles.
As part of a three-lap demonstration run on race day, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc had the opportunity to drive a 1974 Ferrari 312B3 that was won three times by Niki Lauda at the same time. Lauda won her first World Drivers Championship in 1975 driving a 312B3. Leclerc shared the Monaco lap with Jacky Ickx, who was behind the wheel of the 1972 Ferrari 312B2 that he himself raced.
The Monégasque F1 driver needed only a single lap to adapt to driving his single-seater in the early 70s around his hometown track and starting to push the limits. Then, when the commentary discussed Leclerc being able to experience his boyhood dream without the pressures of a race weekend, he lost control into La Rascasse. The back of the Ferrari stepped out, and the car slid back into a TecPro barrier.
The rear wing of the Ferrari 312B3 was shattered in the crash, but Leclerc was able to limp the classic car back to the starting point. While commentaries mentioned that oil dropped on the previous track surface was the likely cause, both Scuderia Ferrari and Charles Leclerc claimed on social media that brake problems caused the crash. . Hopefully he’ll have better luck in the Monaco Grand Prix in two weeks’ time. Leclerc has yet to finish his home Grand Prix since his F1 debut in 2018.
