Why Monaco Grand Prix Is The Jewel In The Crown Of Formula One Global Motor Racing
The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the oldest circuits on the Formula One calendar and
first hosted racing in 1929 when William Grover Williams took a Bugatti 35B to victory round the streets of the principality.It hosted the second-ever Formula One World Championship race in 1950 and, after returning to the calendar in 1955, has been an ever present race in the sport.
The circuit has long been thought of as the jewel in the crown of Formula One due to its harbour-side location and tortuous street circuit nature. It has attracted a celebrity-like status which attracts the rich and famous to the race every year and their boats can often be seen packing out the harbour.
For this reason it is considered as one of the most prestigious races in global motorsport, ranking alongside the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500 to form the Triple Crown of Motorsport.
Monaco is the tightest and most technical track in the Championship. Its narrow layout winds between metal guardrails and rises steeply towards the casino before plunging down to the famous Loews Hairpin, the slowest and tightest corner in the sport.
From there the circuit runs alongside the harbour and features a unique tunnel which often sees drivers thrown into a temporary near-darkness before re-emerging into bright sunshine before braking for the Nouvelle Chicane.
The circuit continues to skirt the harbour before rising again through the tight Rascasse Hairpin and the often treacherous kink at the Anthony Noghes chicane. The whole circuit takes six weeks to put together and a further three weeks to take down.
Three-times champion Nelson Piquet fondly compared driving round Monaco to riding a bicycle round your living room and added that a win there was equal to two victories.
As a result of all this the Monaco Grand Prix is renowned for showing up the masters in the sport and those who have won the most races there are considered legends. Ayrton Senna is the most successful driver having won the race six times, followed by Graham Hill, or Mister Monaco as he is sometimes known, and Michael Schumacher who have both won five times.
Despite its harbour setting and the lack of any substantial barriers for most of its early years, only two drivers have ever crashed their cars into the harbour. In 1955 Alberto Ascari famously ploughed his Lancia through the hay bales into the water but emerged relatively unscathed, only to die testing a Ferrari a few weeks later.
The famous harbour accident was re-enacted for the 1966 film, Grand Prix after Paul Hawkins also crashed his Lotus into the harbour in 1965.
The circuit has seen several surprise results over the years, not least a victory for Olivier Panis in 1996 which proved to be his only race win. Only four cars finished the race that year after a three-car pile-up on the final lap.
In 1982 Riccardo Patrese led going into the final two laps when he promptly spun, dropping to fifth place. However before the race could finish, Alain Prost and Derek Daly both crashed and Didier Pironi and Andrea De Cesaris both ran out of fuel, handing victory back to Patrese.
Monaco is unique in that the podium ceremony is held on the steps of the Royal box next to the start line. The top three drivers do not drive into parc ferme like the rest of the field but instead proceed to the starting grid to celebrate in front of the podium with their cars, where they are presented with trophies by members of the Monegasque Royal Family.
In 2009, Jenson Button made a comedy out of the presentation by accidentally driving his winning car into the pits, forcing him to run a lap of honour in front of the fans as he made his way down the start-finish straight to the podium.
If you are a Formula One fan then this is definately a must see in person event.
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