Charles Leclerc claimed the Driver of the Day award at the F1 2025 Monaco GP after producing a valiant effort to deliver Ferrari their second podium of the season, earning 20.1% of the vote on May 25.
The Monegasque started second at the Circuit de Monaco on Sunday and initially seemed as though he was going to go through the motions to the chequered flag, with Lando Norris seeming solid in the lead.
However, the race picture changed in the dying embers when Max Verstappen stayed out for an ambitious late red flag and backed the cars behind him up to nurse his tyres as he looked to cash in.
That gave Leclerc the chance to put the British McLaren racer ahead under serious pressure and he proved he was demonstrably faster, getting the front of the car excellently rotated into the corners.
Norris was pushing hard and making minor errors in his bid to keep the net lead of the race, and was doing just enough with the combination of track position and the hybrid system’s electrical battery.
Eventually, Verstappen did pit and that released Norris to check out to seal the win but Leclerc had won the hearts of the fans around his home track, earning the Driver of the Day vote at the F1 2025 Monaco GP.
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“At the end of the day, we lost the race yesterday,” Leclerc told F1 TV. “We should have done a better job.
“Lando did a better job this weekend and deserved the win. I realised a childhood dream last year, not this year.
“But considering everything it was a lot above our expectations. I thought being in the top 10 would be a challenge, at the end we are second and very close to P2. It has been a good weekend overall, but I wish I won.”
Leclerc bags second podium of the year at F1 2025 Monaco GP
Charles Leclerc now takes his second podium trophy of the season home with him after his qualifying lap on Saturday secured him second on the grid for the famous Grand Prix.
Building on his form from Saudi Arabia in April, he is now onto 79 points for the season and has George Russell within range in fourth, trailing the British Mercedes driver by 20 points.
He is also 36 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the other Ferrari too, who finished fifth in Monte Carlo, as the Scuderia close to within one point of Red Bull in the constructors’ championship and within five of the Silver Arrows.
