“Can someone come to the grid with an IPAD,” Charles Leclerc makes strange request amid Monaco GP start chaos

“Can someone come to the grid with an IPAD,” Charles Leclerc makes strange request amid Monaco GP start chaos

Charles Leclerc

The race start to the Monaco GP has been very chaotic. The race was delayed due to showers before the start of the race and it has not started (as of 18:43 IST). The race will be starting at 15:16 Monaco time with ‘extreme’ wet tires. While it was only showering slightly before the scheduled start time, it has started to rain even more, and the racing authority has decided to delay the start twice as a result.

Amid all of this chaos, with many drivers being annoyed due to the delayed race start – including Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc has made a rather strange request.

Talking to his team on the radio, the hometown hero said: “When there’s 10 minutes left, can someone come to the grid with an iPad about wet laps.”

FS Video

Charles is certainly in the zone, and he wants to make absolutely no mistakes, so he can finally break his Monaco ‘curse’ and regain the World Championship lead.

EDIT (18:49 IST): The formation lap is under-way, behind the safety car. The rain seems to be getting heavier. It gives the feeling that there are going to be numerous formation laps before the start of the race.

EDIT (18:51 IST): “It’s raining like crazy.” says Charles Leclerc. The session has been red-flagged. The circuit is extremely wet now, and the rain is not stopping. Carlos Sainz wants an umbrella for his troubles.

EDIT (18:55 IST): “I don’t ever think I’ve gotten this wet in a Formula 1 car – EVER!” muses Mick Schumacher. Christian Horner says that the rain has become a bit of a lottery now and that he would prefer a standing start. He said that the race will be going away in about 10 minutes’ time.

EDIT (19:17 IST): The race has still not started, nor has the session resumed. But the rain clouds seem to be moving away, and the rain slowing down. The wind has also picked up. But there has been no safety car on track yet to test track conditions. No updates on when the session will resume.

EDIT (19:26 IST): The rain seems to have stopped, and the ’10 minutes’ signal has been given. Drivers and pit crew are running through the pit lane, and standing water is being cleared off from it.

EDIT (19:36 IST): Cars are back on track now, behind a safety car. McLaren engineers had mentioned that rain might return in round 5 minutes, possibly but not for sure. Yellow flag, Latifi in the barriers at the Loess’ hairpin. Lance Stroll also hit the barriers at Massenet. Stroll has a right rear puncture, so comes into the pits. There will be a rolling start.