'Scared' Charles Leclerc red-faced after crashing iconic ex-Niki Lauda Ferrari
World championship leader Charles Leclerc has been left red-faced after crashing an iconic Ferrari Formula 1 car previously raced by Niki Lauda.
Leclerc was behind the wheel of the 1974 Ferrari 312B3 as part of a demonstration run at the Monaco Historic event.
He was on the third lap when he lost control at the Rascasse corner at the end of the lap, backing the car into the barrier and damaging the rear.
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Motorsport.com reports that he blamed the crash on a mechanical failure.
"I lost the brakes. I lost the brakes! I braked, the pedal was hard, and it went to the floor," Leclerc said.
"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."
Leclerc later 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."
Lauda finished fourth in the 1974 world championship, while teammate Clay Regazzoni was second, behind McLaren's Emerson Fittipaldi.
Charles Leclerc crashes an ex-Niki Lauda Ferrari at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. YouTube
Leclerc, who leads this year's world title race after wins in Bahrain and Australia, took pole for last year's Monaco Grand Prix but crashed in the final moments of qualifying, with the damage famously forcing him to miss the race.
It's the second year in a row a 1970s Ferrari has been damaged at the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco, which runs in the weeks prior to the Formula 1 race.
Last year Jean Alesi was involved in an accident after touching another car and hitting the barriers.
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