Disaster has struck before the race for Ferrari pole-sitter Charles Leclerc at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Monegasque driver will not start the race despite winning pole position, due to an issue related to his heavy qualifying crash, that saw the Saturday session red-flagged.
Ferrari had said there was not any significant damage to the car early on Sunday, but during his formation lap about 35 minutes before the race Leclerc told his team there was a problem.
After initially saying he would start the race from pit lane the team then announced the damage to the car was too great and he was out.
Ferrari confirmed there was an issue with the left drive shaft, which they said “is impossible to fix in time for the start of the race”.
Leclerc was trying to create history and become the first Monegasque driver to win at his home circuit since Louis Chiron in 1931.
The incident was just the latest in a string of failures for Leclerc at the famous street circuit.
Sky Sports UK via Kayo
)His only finish at the race came in 2018 with Sauber, when he finished 18th in his first full season in F1. Since joining Ferrari he has not finished the race and crashed out on lap 16 of that year’s race.
The Monaco Grand Prix was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leclerc’s bad luck left Red Bull driver Max Verstappen alone on the front row of the grid, with Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, who qualified third, with a clear run to the first turn from the inside of the grid but Verstappen took the lead into the first corner.
Both Verstappen and Bottas are chasing Drivers’ Championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen is 14 points behind Hamilton, who started from sixth, while Australia’s’ Daniel Ricciardo started from 12th on the grid after a poor performance in qualifying.
