The Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco

         Perhaps more than a sport, Formula 1 is the embodiment of a belief in the impossible. Almost no expense is spared identifying and hiring the greatest driving and engineering talent in the world, developing the most technologically complex racing machines the world has ever seen, and traveling around the globe to compete in some of the most extreme environments known to man. F1 cars are designed to contradict reason, cornering at 5G, accelerating from a standstill to 60MPH in 2.5 seconds, or zero to 100 in 4 – all the while, every component of the car is on the very brink of failure. In the best of circumstances, 15-man pit crews can complete a tire change and release the car in under three seconds. Teams count their budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and they construct new chassis every single season. Everything about Formula 1 is so extreme as to ellicit disbelief. 

          Monaco is the logical extrapolation of that ideal, a complete abandonment of the notion of safety and responsibility. Unlike the modern, pristine racing circuits Formula 1 frequents in other regions of the world, Monaco has precious little runoff area where there is any at all. Most of the track's 19 corners punish even the most minor error with immediate, and often violent retirement. Where other tracks are intended as grueling tests of mechanical capability and longevity (Monza, Spa), Monaco is a test of driver skill. Drivers narrowly inch past walls at speeds approaching 180MPH, averaging roughly 100MPH over an entire lap. Admittedly, very few opportunities exist to pass another driver (Sainte Devote, the Nouvelle Chicane, and the hairpin constituting notable exceptions) but merely keeping a fragile open-wheel racing car intact and within the boundaries of the circuit for 78 laps is a challenge unheard of in most other forms of racing. True, other series, particularly Indycar, feature street circuits, but none with the sort of fast, sweeping corners such as Beau Rivage, Massenet, the tunnel, Tabac, and the Piscine complex, or drastic change in elevation of Monaco. Monaco is grandfathered into Formula 1; it is a widely held belief that were the course not currently on the calander, the sport would never allow itself to race there. The track is said to be in breach of nearly every safety criteria used in scrutinizing new circuits.

 

          Monaco's grandeur and tradition also exemplify its bizarre and impossible nature. Watching the SpeedTV coverage of FP2 on Thursday, I spotted no fewer than three cruise liners in and around the harbor as well as hundreds of yachts. Monaco provides the most unpredictable and interesting gridwalk of the year, with TV presenters bumping into celebrities of all sorts prior to the race. Along with Silverstone, Monza, and Spa-Francorchamps, Monaco is one of the oldest courses currently raced, having occupied a spot on the calendar throughout the entirety of the modern era (1950-present), the first race having been run in 1929. Since then, the track has evolved as the city changes around it. Construction projects necessitate frequent reprofiling but that is part of the appeal – Monaco is a living, breathing circuit. The economic and cultural vitality of the city contribute to make the Grand Prix of Monaco an electrifying event.

          SpeedTV has been quite accurately describing this as the greatest weekend in racing. Motorsport enthusiasts could not ask for a more fortunate arangement than for the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500, both legendary, unmissable events, to fall on the same day. I could write volumes about what is undoubtedly my favorite race of the season, but race day party preparations beckon. If you did not watch it live this morning and intend to catch subsequent replays, as I suspect will be the case with many fans in the United States, gather some friends, explore the upper limit of the volume on your television, and tune in to the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco.