Charles Leclerc will be looking to restart his F1 title challenge in 2022 at his home race in Monte Carlo aft🔜er suffering his first DNF🌟 of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Up until Lap 27, Leclerc hadᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ dominated last weekend’s race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 🍃after a rare mistake from Max Verstappen saw him spin at Turn 4, making the Ferrari driver’s afternoon even easier.

This allowed Leclerc to extend h𝓡is advantage to over 10 seconds in the opening part of the race before suffering an engine failure before the halfway point.

• Will Red Bull's internal politics help or hinder Verstappen?
• Who were the biggest winners and losers from the 2022 Spanish GP?
• Leclerc defiant despite costly DNF: 'No reas𒉰on to be angry'

Leclerc’s retiremen💙t in Barcelonꦍa has meant he has surrendered the lead at the top of the drivers’ championship for the first time this year.

With the gap only at six points, a first victory on home soil would propel Leclerc back to🦋 the top.

Unfortuna🐽tely for Leclerc, his ru🔜n of bad luck on home soil stretches back to his days in F2.

Here’s 🎐a recap of Leclerc’s run of miꦕsfortune around the iconic streets.

2017 - Suspension damage halts F2 charge

Leclerc was the𒀰 eventual F2 champion ahead of his graduation to F1 with Sauber 💦in 2018 but a win in front of his home crowd alluded him despite taking a breathtaking pole position.

After leading from🀅 pole, Leclerc controlled the race froღm the front ahead of now-Williams driver Alex Albon. 

As with Monaco and junior categories, crashes and Safety Cars are a guarantee whic🐟h didn’t play into Leclerc’s hands.

Leclerc lost out to Oliver Rowland, Artem Markelov, and Nobahuru Matsushita under the secon𓄧d Safety Car and then was forced to retire wit𝕴hin a lap of his pit stop due to suspension damage.

The sprint race didn’t go any better with ꦜLeclerc also failing to finish due to an electrical issue.

2018 - Brake failure on F1 debut

Leclerc’s first home grand prix in F1ඣ ended in dramatic fashion while driving for Sauber.

He had qualified a respectiv꧋e♑ 14th, two places ahead of more experienced teammate Marcus Ericsson.

Leclerc was run🅰ning out of the points on Lap 70 of the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, on course to finish 12th.

However, he suffered a dramatic brake failure on the run down to the Nouvelle Chicane which saw him smash into the back of Toro Rosso’s B🗹rendon Hartley, f🎀orcing both drivers to retire prematurely.

2019 - Disasterous first home race for Ferrari

After missing out on his maไiden ꦏF1 win in Bahrain, Leclerc hoped to take his first grand prix victory for Ferrari in Monaco.

Leclerc looked to have the pace to take pole in pra🐻ctice ahead of the two Mercedes drivers - Mercedes had won every race up until that point - but Ferrari made a strategical blunder in ෴Q1.

His laps in Q1 were𝔍n’t good enough to get through and with Ferrari deciding to keep Leclerc in the garage, he was relegated to 16th and an early elimination.

Leclerc’s recovery on race day started well but it was undone when he hit the wall while driving to overtake Nico Hulkenbe🃏rg.

He sustained a puncture which led to significant floor damage and an early retirement once again from his ho♎me race.

2021 - Heartbreak after home pole 

Surprisingly, Ferrari were in the battle for pole in Monaco with Leclerc in a fight with Verstappen, Valtte𒁏ri Bottas and teammate Carlos Sainz in 2021.

Leclerc led the way after a🦋n impressive initial effort in Q⛦3 but the final runs would prove crucial.

His rivals were all setting better lap times but qualifying came to a premature end when Leclerc hit the barries on the exit 🃏of the Swimming Pool chicane.

Ironically, Leclerc’s shunt his rivals weren’t able to 🌺im𒈔prove and thus secured a first-ever pole position on home soil.

After his crash, Ferrari conducted checks on the gearbox that showed "no serious damage", and confirmed ahead of the race that it would not be ma🅘king a change, ensuring Leclerc remained on pole r🃏ather than taking a five-place grid penalty.

Howeve🤡r, as soon as Leclerc did his reconnaissance lap to the grid, an issue occurred.

"Charles will not start the race due to an issue with the left driveshaft which is impossible to fix in time for the s🌞tart of the race," Ferrari said.

Leclerc was unable to start the 🌄2021 Moꦫnaco GP, meaning no car lined up on pole position.

The curse even continued in a demonstration event earlier this month while driving Ferrari’s 312B3 - a le🦄gendary car driven by three-time F1 champion Niki Lauda.

He lost the rear of the 312B3 on his third flying lap, heading into the barriers rearwards i🐟nto the La Rascasse right-hander at the end of the lap.

Leclerc damaged the rear wing of the legendary♐ Ferrari car before requiring assistance.

Will the curse end this weekend?

Lec🌞lerc is in need of a much-needed victory to get his and Ferra🌺ri’s season back on track.

Main rܫival Verstappen has won the last three consecutive♑ races while Red Bull have taken two 1-2 finishes in this period to move into the lead in the constructors’ championship.

Ferrari’s upgrade package in Barcelona appeared to tip the balance of power in their fav💯our again, backed up by Leclerc’s dominant pole and showing on race day.

“Let’s say that I feel better after this weekend than after the last two weekends,” Leclerc said in Barcelona. “Of course there is this issue on the car and I am very disappointed, but on the other hand I think there are plenty ꧋of positive signs throughout the whole weekend. 

“Our🔴 qualifying pace, the new package worked as expected, which is not always a given, and everythin๊g was working well with our race pace and tyre management. 

“On tyre management at the last two races we have been struggling quite a bit compared to Red Bull and today it was strong. So in those situations I think it is good to also look at theꦗ positives and there are plenty today.”

In 2022, Ferrari have held the advantage🥀 in t🍸he corners while Red Bull have performed best on the straights with their very efficient RB18B. 

In Spain, Ferrari was quicker than Red Bull in the middle and final sectors 🎀of the lap but Red Bull had the advantage in sector one - which mainly consists of the long start-finish straight.

All the signs are pointing towards a Leclerc-Ferrari win but maybe lady luck will have so🐠mething to say about that.