Monaco Grand Prix: Stage Preview

      If for most teams the "home" race takes place in Silverstone, then for most drivers the "home" race can be considered a race in Monaco. For Charles Leclair, it is at home without quotation marks, and for many others – at the place of residence. The quiet and cozy tax haven of the Grimaldi family on the Cote d'Azur attracts tourists, but does not like outsiders. Therefore, the stars of world sports, and not only sports, are comfortable there.

      For the rest, of course, there are difficulties – there are almost no hotels in Monaco, there is no airport, team staff arrive every morning by train – there are terrible traffic jams on narrow automobile serpentines – from neighboring Nice and other nearby towns and villages where they can stay. The morning queues at train stations from staff and fans are impressive – you won't see this anywhere else.

      The city is closed off before the sessions start. Locals sometimes can't walk to the nearest bakery, but in the evening, restrictions are lifted and traffic resumes where the racers have just fought, DJs are playing, fans are chatting and dancing, drinking frothy drinks. Toilets are not available everywhere, so by morning the track is not in the best condition. But this is part of the alluring uniqueness of the Monaco stage.

      A narrow urban highway is completely unsuitable for modern wide and heavy vehicles. It's impossible to overtake there, but how interesting is qualifying when you need to attack at the limit, because the starting position decides everything!

      There are traditions that need to be followed in order to maintain continuity, but American Formula 1 owners from Liberty Media have other priorities. Americans do not take partners and sponsors to Monaco, the role of exhibition stages is now played by Miami and Las Vegas, where there is everything for every taste.

      But there will still be a lot of expensive yachts in Monaco, and teams and sponsors rent them for their guests to treat them to champagne, introduce them to the racers, and invite them to a party after the sessions.

      There will be a fashion show and a charity auction. But if Formula 1 previously needed a status stage in Monaco, now Monaco needs a Formula 1 stage to remind the rest of the world once a year about the existence of a tiny Principality in a cozy corner of the Cote d'Azur.