Thinking about it again, thinking about himself again, Charles Leclerc brightens up. Finally he comes back home, in his Montecarlo, on roads that have seen him go through every phase of an intense life, both bitter and incredibly sweet. On his ninth year in F1, his eighth with a Ferrari to whom he's vowed eternal love, the Prince of Monaco settles his account with the past and the future: "Because inside me I still feel as if I were going to do my first race, but I know that some things have changed over the years". For him, for others, for the world that surrounds him. Now that there, in his Montecarlo, he's won, he's gotten married, he has found serenity and consciousness. "But without losing the desire to win".

Charles, do you believe that the Championship is still open?

"Yes, of course. A season like the one we're living, with new technical regulations, allows the teams to have a very steep development curve. In the first races we discovered a lot about our car, to then work in Maranello towards important upgrades. Last year has taught us how fast the hierarchies can change."

Is it possible to beat this Mercedes, who has won all the races so far, this year?

"Sure, this season can go in all directions and the Championship is still open. We must keep working in the right way and not lose the enthusiasm, especially within the team".

What's the climate inside the team right now?

"I don't think I've ever seen the team so on the limit. There's an aggressive mentality that I like a lot, in every aspect: production, innovation, all the risks we took. The other different aspect that I perceive is the calm: we want the results but at the same time there's a clarity in managing everything that we didn't have a few seasons ago."

Eight years in Ferrari, nine in F1. Do you feel that you've been in the paddock for almost a decade?

"No. The joy, the desire to win, the passion... they're exactly as they were in my first year. The only aspect that makes me feel like I am at home in this place is the relationship that I was able to build with the people. Here in Ferrari they saw me grow and together we went through both good and bad moments."

You've been working with Lewis Hamilton for more than a year. What have you both learned from each other?

"Him from me? I really wouldn't know [he laughs]. But I know what he has given me, so much. A driver that has won as much as Lewis has a very precise work ethic, a method that under some points of view has opened my mind. I have had great luck in my career: I've had teammates of enormous talent and each of them has left me something and allowed me to grow."

Do you ever think about young Charles, the one who arrived in Ferrari in 2019?

"Yes, sometimes I think about how many things we've gone through since then. Now I'm much more patient, because when you're young you live every situation with great emotion, now I've learned to go beyond the single episode. This has allowed me to get over even some big disappointments."

Such as?

"Eh, there have been a lot. I did win Monaco in the end, but I would have liked to win it a few years in advance. Then I think about the mistake in qualifying in Baku in 2019. But now I am at peace with the past, I think all of it was useful to me."

In F1 there are a lot of youngsters now. How does it feel seeing the new generation of talents?

"It does have a certain effect. Up until a certain point whoever got to F1 were drivers that I'd raced with: a little older or a little younger than me. Now the boys coming up are ones I never raced against in feeder series. Maybe I had heard about some of them, like Kimi Antonelli, whose name I'd heard spoken since he was in karting. And this usually speaks of a very special talent."

Ferrari hasn't won since the Mexican GP of 2024. When will you return on the highest step of the podium?

"Hopefully soon, the team is working really well. Monaco is always a little special as a track, where everything can happen. The year is long still anyway."

A special year even off the track: in February you got married to Alexandra Saint Mleux. What kind of day was it?

"Amazing, unforgettable. We did a small ceremony in Montecarlo, and then we'll make a bigger party later. I didn't think I would be so emotional but when I got to the place I must say that the emotions were high, it's an important contract!"

You also enjoyed a turn on a magnificent Ferrari Testa Rossa from 1957.

"Yeah, we chose it together, Alexandra and I. I showed her a few pictures of the cars that we could have had that day and she immediately fell in love with the Testa Rossa."

Is it important for you to have Alexandra on the track, during race weekends?

"Very much so. Having reference points, in this frenetic life that we lead, is essential to remain true to oneself and still have an eye on the outside world. There's Alexandra, which is the person I share my life with, but there's also all my friends and family, who are so important for that, just like my mom and my brothers."

Does mamma Pascale still worry when she sees you race, like she did back then?

"Maybe she's gotten a bit used to it, but yeah, I think as a mom she will always be worried."

And would you like, one day, to have a child racing?