Oh No! Charles Leclerc Crashes Niki Lauda’s 1972 Ferrari F1 Car at Monaco Historic GP

Following the footage, nothing seemed out of sorts with the car, as Leclerc started picking up the pace with the iconic Ferrari 312B3. Then, on his third lap, the Monegasque driver lost the rear end of the Ferrari into the La Rascasse right-hander, which leads onto the pit straight.

Even with the dislodged rear wing, Leclerc managed to get the car going again but appeared visibly frustrated with the incident afterwards, as reported by Motorsport.

“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 man then tweeted: “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.”

That is of course in reference to his crash from last year when he missed his home race due to damage sustained during Q3 (after he had already earned pole position).

What’s ironic here is that the 312B3 was the car that prompted Jacky Ickx to quit Ferrari after the 1973 Italian GP because of poor reliability and performance. Its successor did a lot better, finishing second in the 1974 Constructors Championship.

The 312B3 that Leclerc crashed is said to be owned by Cologne-based company Methuselah Racing.