Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc took part in a demonstration run at the 2022 Monaco Historic event on Sunday and while on his third lap aboard Niki Lauda’s 1972 Ferrari 312B3 as part of a parade alongside ex-Ferrari driver and Formula 1 world champion with the Maranello team Jacky Ickx when the incident occured.
The Monegasque driver headed out for a slow sighter lap but soon picked up the pace and on his third lap, lost the rear of the 312B3 into the famous La Rascasse right-hander on the streets of Monte Carlo. The Ferrari driver backed the Ferrari 312 into the barriers and damaged the car’s rear wing. Charles immediately gesticulated with his hands to indicate there was an issue with the pedals.
Charles Leclerc was able to continue but stopped the car on the main straight as smoke was visible from the rear of his car, and Jacky Ickx stopped a little further up the road in his earlier 312B.
A frustrated-looking Charles Leclerc and a pair of marshals inspected the damage before talking to Jacky Ickx. The Ferrari driver explained the unfortunate incident: “I lost the brakes. 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 Ferrari driver said.
Charles Leclerc also shared his thoughts on the incident with a post on social media: “When you thought you already had all the bad luck of the world in Monaco and you lose the brakes into rascasse with one of the most iconic historical Ferrari Formula 1 car.”
The 312B3 was the flat-12-powered car which determined Jacky Ickx to leave the Maranello team at the end of the 1973 Italian GP because of the lack of pace and especially the reliability problems. The improved version for the following Formula 1 season was then raced by Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni as Ferrari finished P2 in the constructors’ championship title in 1974, only behind the McLaren M23.
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In order to mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Gilles Villeneuve, Charles Leclerc was invited to perform a few laps behind the wheel of the Canadian’s revered 312T from 1973 at the Fiorano circuit. The Monegasque driver described the experience: “It was very special. The cars were very different back then. As soon as I got into the car you can really feel that the safety that we have now is just incredible and back then to push so much those cars with so little safety, you have to be quite mentally strong. It was nice and very playful also as a car so it was cool. The tyres were the same ones that they had on the car in the museum for I don’t know how many years, so it was like wood!” – Charles Leclerc concluded.
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