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Charles Leclerc will start the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position after Ferrari completed in-depth checks on his gearbox on Sunday morning.
Leclerc crashed heavily in the final part of qualifying but had already set a lap time good enough for Ferrari’s first pole since late 2019.
He feared he might lose his home pole position though as Ferrari waited to assess the damage the crash caused his gearbox.
A gearbox change would trigger a five-place grid drop but Ferrari reported a positive initial analysis on Saturday evening and on Sunday morning confirmed “no apparent defects” on the gearbox, leaving the team confident it does not need to replace it for the race.
“I don’t think it’s the internals that would have been damaged. It’s more on the external of the gearbox,” team principal Mattia Binotto told Sky pre-race.
“So we checked it carefully. Obviously it is only external inspections we may have done, so we will still need to cross fingers, but I think that all the checks we did were ok.
“We fired up the car, the car is almost ready for the race, so we will start from the pole and then let’s resist many laps.
“Going to the grid will be key, but I think we made our decision now. We did the checks we could have done and we are somehow pretty happy, convinced that that’s the right choice.
“So we are not gambling, it’s a matter of fact. We believe that the gearbox is safe, but obviously you never know.”
The pole gives Leclerc a great chance at scoring his and Ferrari’s first win since 2019 after a stellar week in Monaco, where the car’s low-speed strengths have shone through and masked the team’s prevailing engine deficit.
“In Monaco, we actually have quite a lot of chance [to win],” said Leclerc about his prospects of a first win in Monaco – which would also mark his first points finish at his home race.
“Of course, if we are quite a lot slower then the guys behind will put us under pressure, whether to undercut or overcut us.
“But if we have a reasonable pace as we’ve had all weekend, then I’m pretty sure it’s possible.”
Ferrari felt Leclerc’s pole position was reward for an “extreme” strategy in prioritising qualifying performance from the start of the weekend.
The team wanted to give Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr as much track time as possible to build confidence and make the difference at a track the SF21 is well-suited to.
Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies said on Saturday that Leclerc’s pole had vindicated that approach and put the team in position to score an unexpected victory.
“I don’t think you have any driver that starts on pole that doesn’t think he can win the race,” said Mekies.
“It is a completely different game. It is no secret that we have focused on our preparations pretty much for quali for a huge result here.
“It was very much because we were focused on trying to extract the most for quali.
“If you start at the front you are going to target to fight for the wins that wouldn’t be alive for you otherwise.”
Leclerc will start ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.
Ferrari has the strategic advantage of Carlos Sainz Jr lining up fourth, while the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton is only seventh and Sergio Perez’s Red Bull will start ninth.
“The pitstop will be key,” said Mekies. “Red Bull is the best benchmark. We are trying to make our way back to the front also in that area, so it will be a good fight there.
“It may as well be the case that Max has a bit more pace than us in the race, but nonetheless, it’s not an easy track [to overtake on].”
