Some athletes reset with silence. Others need noise, distance, a completely different world to step into. For Charles Leclerc, Monaco looks like this: open water, a classic wooden Riva at idle, sunglasses on, engine off — and for a few hours, no F1 calendar at all.
The Ferrari driver shared a set of images from exactly that kind of day, captioned simply: the best kind of reset. No press lines, no paddock small talk — just the Monaco coastline sliding by.
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The Water Is Where Leclerc Actually Switches Off
It’s not a new pattern for Leclerc. Between race weekends, he’s known to trade the driver’s seat of an F1 car for the helm of his own boat — a wooden Riva he’s previously nicknamed “Monza,” a nod to the Italian home of Ferrari’s most storied circuit. It’s the kind of detail that says a lot about how he thinks about downtime: even his relaxation carries a little bit of the sport with him.
In this latest set, he’s captured mid-swim off the back of the boat, diving under the surface, steering along the Monaco coast in a cream knit polo and sunglasses, caught for a second in the boat’s rearview mirror looking every bit as composed off the track as he does on it.
Charles Leclerc’s Off-Duty Style
Leclerc’s look on the water is as considered as anything he wears to the paddock:
- The cream knit polo. A textured, short-sleeve knit is the classic Riviera piece: smarter than a T-shirt and more relaxed than a shirt. In a neutral colour, it suits the wooden boat and the sea.
- Simple sunglasses. A clean, classic frame, nothing sporty or loud.
- Swimwear kept plain. Solid-colour shorts, no logos, so the setting does the talking.
It’s the opposite of the logo-heavy holiday style of some footballers. Leclerc dresses like someone who grew up on the Riviera, which he did. The overall look is quiet, classic and expensive-looking, in the same way a vintage Riva is.
Why Athletes Need This Kind of Reset
There’s a reason so many elite athletes gravitate toward water when they get real time off. It’s total sensory disruption — different sound, different rhythm, nothing that resembles a training ground or a garage. For a driver whose day job is lived at 300+ km/h surrounded by radio chatter and split-second decisions, a slow cruise along a coastline with the engine cut is about as far from a race weekend as it gets.
It also tracks with what Leclerc has said in the past about needing to properly step away before turning his focus back to racing. Downtime like this isn’t laziness — for elite performers, it’s part of the preparation.
Monaco Isn’t Just Home — It’s Recovery
Monaco isn’t just where Leclerc grew up and races once a year in front of a home crowd — it’s also become his go-to setting for actually unplugging. The coastline gives him privacy without needing to go far, and a familiarity that off-season trips abroad can’t replicate.
For a driver already gearing up for the next stretch of the season, a few hours like this one — sun, saltwater, silence — might be exactly the reset that gets him back on form when the lights go out again.
Why the Reset Matters in 2026
This summer break came in the middle of a demanding season. With F1’s new 2026 rules, Mercedes have set the pace, and Leclerc has been battling at the front for Ferrari while team-mate Lewis Hamilton took his first win for the Scuderia in Barcelona. After the Italian Grand Prix, Leclerc was fifth in the drivers’ championship (News.GP).
That’s the context for “the best kind of reset”. Monaco is where he recharges before the second half of a long 24-race calendar.
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