Grand Prix de Monaco

Speeding Down a Brief Straightaway

Today was a beautiful day in Monte Carlo for the 70th Grand Prix de Monaco!

Coming Around a Sharp Turn

During the 78-lap race around the shortest and most dangerous F1 course, the cars’ roars and screeches could be heard throughout the city as they raced uphill toward the world-famous casino, downhill and around a tight hairpin, around two more sharp rights, through a tunnel and along the harbor to a chicane and around more tight corners.

Front Row of Yachts

The Grand Prix de Monaco is an annual race held since 1929 on the Circuit de Monaco, a tight course running through the city’s streets. The demanding course is the only one that does not adhere to the FIA’s minimum 305 km race distance. If it were not currently part of the race circuit, it would not qualify due to safety reasons.

The race was originally designed as a way for the Automobile Club de Monaco to gain acceptance to the international governing body, Association Internationale des Automobiles Clubs Reconnus (AIACR), who required each member to host a motorsport event within its boundaries. The first Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco was by invitation only. Maserati and Alfa Romeo were no-shows, but Bugatti and Mercedes sent a number of cars. A Bugatti Type 35B won the event.

Balcony Views (the crane is used to lift cars off the track)

To date, the only Monaco native (Monegasque) to have won the event was Louis Chiron in 1931. By 1933, Monaco’s race was recognized as among the world’s most important.

It wasn’t until after WWII that a new racing category, Formula One, was defined by the FIA (successor to AIACR) for the pre-war voiturette class (this definition has changed, but currently means a vehicle weighing less than 350 kilograms empty and carrying a load of not more than 200 kilograms). The event became part of the Formula One World Championship in 1950.

Safety Team Lining Up

Picking Up the Track

Monaco, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, F1, Formula 1, Europe

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