Revealed: Why winning at Monaco and Monza ‘means nothing’ to Charles Leclerc

Ferrari’s Jock Clear explained that Charles Leclerc is wanting to win every race “just as much” as his two emotional triumphs at Monaco and Monza this season.

Paddock stalwart Clear, who now acts as Leclerc’s driver coach alongside his role as head of Ferrari ‘s driver academy, revealed that, while the Monégasque driver has won two “iconic” races this year, when the visor comes back down in Austin, his mentality is such that he will want victory there as much as anywhere else.

Jock Clear: Charles Leclerc wants next win ‘just as much’ as Monaco, Monza triumphs

Leclerc first broke his supposed long-standing ‘curse’ at his home race by taking pole and victory around the streets where he grew up, the Ferrari driver clearly emotional at winning the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time back in May – admitting afterwards that he struggled to see during the closing laps through his own tears.

If a driver’s home race is the most important one to win on a personal level, his other race victory so far in 2024 was arguably the most important to Ferrari, taking first place at Monza in front of the tifosi for the second time.

When it was put to Clear that those two race wins, in those locations in particular, would be hard to top for Leclerc, he responded by explaining that each time there is a race in front of him to try and win, past success is not in his mind.

“Well, honestly, I think if you spoke to him, he would say he’s very happy to have won those two,” Clear explained on the F1 Nation podcast.

“They’re two iconic races in any year, but to win both of them in the same year…but, honestly, that means nothing to him when he goes into qualifying in Austin next week – he is going to want to win that just as much.

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“You know, that’s the great thing about sport at all levels. Once you get on the playing field, it’s just all about beating the guy that’s next to you on the day, and that adrenaline rush is there every week for us.”

Leclerc heads into the final six races sitting third in the Drivers’ Championship , 86 points away from Max Verstappen’s lead and leaving himself with an outside chance of a late title challenge, should he and Ferrari be quick enough.

Clear is revelling in the current state of Formula 1, with the uncertainty of where race victories will end up leaving the sport in a “healthy” place for the remainder of 2024.

Asked if Leclerc will look to add to his win tally in the run-in, Clear replied: “Absolutely. We’re in a situation where four cars, maybe more, can go to each race now thinking ‘we could win this one’, and that’s a fantastic feeling. It really is.

“That’s what this is all about, honestly, and we don’t mind that we’re having to battle McLaren and Mercedes and Red Bull all at the same time now.

“We much prefer this sort of challenge to the constant battle of trying to keep up with Max or trying to hope that we can catch them out, and that’s fair, that’s quite demoralising.

“But this is really healthy at the moment. It’s a great sport to be in at the moment.”

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