How Ferrari superstar Charles Leclerc cost Drake $210,000 during the 2024 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc cost rapper Drake $210,000 at the end of the recently concluded Las Vegas Grand Prix. The second edition was an unpredictable 50-lap race as it threw up many curve balls such as cold temperatures and greening on tires, which caught out several teams.
Starting from P4, Leclerc made a terrific start passing his teammate Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly into Turn 1 to take second place behind Mercedes driver and polesitter George Russell. The Monegasque driver looked rapid in the initial stages of the race and even challenged Russell for the lead as he went side by side at the end of the Las Vegas Strip.
But after the challenge, Leclerc's pace dropped astronomically and he dropped to P4 behind his teammate and Max Verstappen. Although he recovered past some of his peers during the second and third stints on the hard tires, it did not improve his overall result as he lost a potential podium slot to his teammate.
Charles Leclerc was not happy with the result and the team's execution throughout Saturday night but he wasn't the only one upset. Drake, who had put a bet of $210k on him winning the race, also lost his money.
The Canadian rapper is often in the news for betting on various sports events.
Charles Leclerc analyzes his P4 finish at the Las Vegas GP
Speaking with Motorsportweek, the 27-year-old Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc stated that he feared the worst after a disastrous first stint left him behind the leading pack on Saturday night but managed to minimize the damage.
“When I started to feel the Medium going at lap six, I was like, ‘Oh, that doesn’t look great for the rest of the race.’ But then with the Hard, everything felt a little bit more in line with what I expected and then we were in a good place. So yeah, I think if you had told me that we’ll finish fourth after the first stint, I probably would have taken it," Charles Leclerc said.
"I felt like I had everything under control, but then from one corner to the other, I lost three seconds per lap, which was absolutely crazy. So yeah, that took me by surprise and we lost quite a lot there, but then on the Hard we were strong, but obviously it wasn’t enough to do anything better than third and fourth.”
Ferrari's P3 and P4 could not inflict further damage on McLaren in the Constructor's Championship as it currently trails the Woking-based outfit by 24 points with two races and one Sprint remaining in the 2024 season.