Ferrari spent the first four races of the season battling McLaren to lead the F1 midfield, but saw a surprising boost in shape around the slow Monaco layout.
Leclerc took Ferrari’s first pole position since the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix but was unable to start the race due to damage sustained in his crash at the end of qualifying.
Teammate Carlos Sainz finished the race in second place, marking his first podium for the team and Ferrari’s best result of the season so far.
But Leclerc was quick to downplay any suggestions that it might mark Ferrari’s arrival in the battle with Red Bull and Mercedes at the top, believing his form would return to normal at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend.
“I think it will come back to reality a bit now,” said Leclerc.
“Monaco was an isolated incident. We fought for victory, it was incredible and very nice for everyone’s motivation.
“But now, with long straights and a bit more high-speed in general here, even if there are a lot of slow corners, I believe that we will return to our normal competitiveness that we had before Monaco.”
When asked if there were other tracks on which Ferrari could do as well as in Monaco, Leclerc chose Singapore in the hope that the street circuit would again show off the strengths of the SF21 car.
“The simple answer is that I felt like Monaco was an isolated incident,” said Leclerc.
“When we look at the calendar, I think Singapore might look the most similar to Monaco.
“But whether it will be so competitive or not, I don’t know, the conditions are very different, very humid. It’s a little warmer.
“But if you look at the track characteristics, I think Singapore is the closest thing to Monaco.”
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Monaco was the first race in which Ferrari has been as competitive in terms of sheer performance as Red Bull and Mercedes in terms of sheer performance since late 2019, after its form slumped dramatically last year.
Leclerc trusted the SF21 car’s aerodynamic performance and said it gave him good balance in the slow corners.
“We think the aerodynamics are very strong even today with the amount of aerodynamics we have in the car,” said Leclerc.
“In the low-speed corners, it’s a combination of chassis and aerodynamics that makes it really nice. The balance is pretty good on the slow corners too, which helps us, so it’s a combination of things that make our car pretty strong at low speeds.
“We were even stronger at low-speed in Monaco than basically on the low-speed tracks before, so I think there might be something else in Monaco that we need to understand.
“But as I said, Monaco is an isolated case, so we shouldn’t get too carried away.”
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