Charles Leclerc ‘lost the brakes’ when crashing legendary Ferrari in Monaco

Leclerc crashed during the Monaco Historic Grand Prix while driving Niki Lauda’s 1974 Ferrari 312 B3

Charles Leclerc has never finished a Monaco Grand prix (Getty Images)

Charles Leclerc has revealed that a braking issue caused his crash while driving Niki Lauda’s 1974 Ferrari in Monaco.

The Ferrari driver was enjoying a demonstration drive at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix when he lost control of the rear of a classic 312 entering La Rascasse, colliding with the barriers and damaging the rear wing.

It continued a strange run of misfortune for the Monegasque on his home Monte Carlo streets, with Leclerc yet to finish a Monaco Grand Prix during his Formula 1 career.

The current leader of the Drivers’ Championship standings also failed to finish two races in the city-state during his final year in Formula 2.

Having stopped on the pit straight, Leclerc explained to former Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx, an eight-time winner in F1, that he felt fortunate that his collision had not happened at a more dangerous part of the track.

“I lost the brakes,” Leclerc told Ickx, according to Autosport. “I lost the brakes!

“I braked, the pedal was hard, and it went to the floor.

“I was lucky to have it at that moment, because if I had had it at another place, it was no good… the problem is that I got scared. I arrived normally in the corner.”

The 2022 F1 season continues in Barcelona with the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, with the Monaco Grand Prix following a week later.

Leclerc has a 19-point advantage on Max Verstappen, who has won each of the last two races.