Find your yacht, grab your best clothes and play the orchestral film score-esque music. It’s the Monaco Grand Prix. Motorsport Week previews the event.
History
Monaco is synonymous with motor racing – the jewel in the crown of the rallying arena and in Formula 1.
The Monaco Grand Prix was first held in 1929, with victory taken by William Grover-Williams, and it was part of the inaugural World Championship season in 1950.
The event was not held in 1951, 1953 or 1954, but returned in 1955 and has been held annually ever since, with drivers through the eras staking their claims to be masters of Monaco.
No other circuit has had such an unbroken spell on the Formula 1 calendar.
Circuit

The Circuit de Monaco is located in the Monte Carlo and La Condamine districts of the tiny Principality, nestled in a corner of South-East France, adjacent to the Mediterranean.
The circuit layout has been tweaked across the years, as the city and its buildings evolve, but the fundamental segments of the track can be traced back to 1929.
The track is only a few kilometres long but danger lurks at every corner – and even straights – with Armco barriers lining the narrow circuit and uneven surfaces adding to the nuances of a street venue.
The curved start/finish straight, located on Boulevard Albert 1e, leads into the first right-hander at Sainte Devote, named after a nearby church, which opens out into the steep uphill climb along Beau Rivage. The long left-hander at Massenet leads the drivers between the Hotel de Paris and the Monte-Carlo Casino and is immediately followed by Casino corner. The end of the first sector signals the fiddly section of a demanding track – the heavily-cambered right of Mirabeau Haute plunges into the left-hand Loews Hairpin, the slowest and tightest corner on the calendar, with modified steering arms required to allow the turn to be negotiated. Mirabeau Bas is followed by another right-hander at Portier, where exit speed is crucial, carried through the famous Tunnel and into the Nouvelle Chicane – the best overtaking opportunity on a circuit where passing is an extreme challenge.
Tabac (named after, you guessed it, a nearby tabac) leads into the left-right flick of Swimming Pool, the complex installed in 1973 after the construction of the Stade Nautique Rainier III. The recent opening up of the exit right-hander has enabled drivers to carry more speed through the turn, enhancing the challenge for the tighter left-hander that sits beneath the pit lane. The narrow (even for Monaco) and tight (ditto) right-handers at La Rascasse, named after the restaurant/bar that the circuit negotiates, and Anthony Noghes (founder of the event) complete a lap that typically takes between 72 and 75 seconds to complete.
Teams use high-downforce set-ups in order to best cope with the circuit, where mechanical grip is a strong requirement, while cooling can also be an issue, meaning bodywork sometimes has to be opened up.
“The reason I like Monaco so much is because it’s not easy,” says 2016 podium finisher Sergio Perez.
“It’s a massive challenge and it’s always a tough race. Every lap you are under pressure. There is no chance to relax. You need to build up your speed, build your confidence and be careful not to overstep the limit.
“When the car is working well and you have confidence, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
What happened in 2017?
Ferrari controlled proceedings at the event as Sebastian Vettel led Kimi Raikkonen in a 1-2 finish to claim the team’s first Monaco win since 2001.

Raikkonen led away from pole position, followed by Vettel, and the Finn was serviced first for his sole pit stop.
Vettel prolonged his first stint and a sequence of rapid laps, allied to so-so pace from Raikkonen, meant he emerged from the pits atop the standings, a situation that left Raikkonen more than miffed.
Daniel Ricciardo mirrored Vettel’s strategy and the overcut brought him ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen into third place – surviving a clout of the wall after a Safety Car period.
Eventual World Champion Lewis Hamilton was a low-key seventh as he made gains off the back of being eliminated in Q2.
Last year’s event also marked the final F1 outing for 2009 champion Jenson Button, who filled in for Indianapolis-bound Fernando Alonso at McLaren – and still has a three-place grid penalty hanging over him for causing a collision with Pascal Wehrlein!
Vettel’s win was his second in Monaco, six years after his previous triumph for Red Bull, and in the process ending Mercedes’ four-year streak of victories.
Both Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have taken two wins in Monaco – and both of the Briton’s wins have come in wet/dry races, in 2008 and 2016 respectively.
Alonso captured back-to-back wins for Renault and McLaren in 2006/07, while Raikkonen’s sole win – so far – came 12 months previously.
None of the current drivers, though, can hold a candle to previous Monaco masters, with Ayrton Senna atop the pile with six wins, his streak broken only be his famous error while leading in 1988.
Graham Hill and Michael Schumacher both triumphed on five separate occasions, while Alain Prost hoisted the trophy aloft four times.
In terms of qualifying, Vettel (2011) and Hamilton (2015) have only once taken pole position for the event – an anomalous record considering their respective one-lap feats in the annals of history.
Raikkonen and Alonso have both grabbed two poles in Monaco, while Ricciardo’s only F1 pole so far came at the event in 2016.
Senna’s name remains at the top of the record books – he was quickest in qualifying five times in Monaco.
Other details
The Monaco weekend, as usual, features a revised timetable compared to other events, with practice taking place on Thursday, rather than Friday, before the usual Saturday/Sunday F1 approach.
This was initially undertaken due to the Thursday of the event taking place on Ascension Day, a public holiday, and it is a tradition that has been maintained.

Tyre supplier Pirelli has nominated the Hypersoft (pink), Ultrasoft (purple) and Supersoft (red) tyres for this weekend’s event.
It will be the first time that the new-for-2018 Hypersoft, which has been trialled during testing, will be used at a Grand Prix, and new track records are expected.
Either the Ultrasofts or Supersofts tyres must be run for one stint of the 78-lap Grand Prix, should dry conditions prevail.
Romain Grosjean heads into the event with a three-place grid penalty due to triggering the first-lap pile-up at the preceding race in Spain.
There will be a solitary DRS zone, located along the pit straight, with its detection point on the exit of Piscine.
Formula 2 will hold its fourth of 12 rounds this season, with the races scheduled for Friday morning (11:30) and Saturday afternoon (17:20).
McLaren-backed Lando Norris leads the standings, 13 points clear of DAMS driver Alexander Albon, though has not triumphed since Bahrain’s season-opener.
Mercedes junior George Russell has thrust himself into contention with victory in Barcelona, 18 points adrift of compatriot Norris, as his ART team enters the weekend off the back of three successive wins.
Weather forecast:
Thursday: Partly sunny, 21°c
Saturday: Partly sunny, 26°c
Sunday: Partly sunny, 25°c
Timetable: (GMT+2)
Thursday 24 May
FP1: 11:00 – 12:30
FP2: 15:00 – 16:30
Saturday 26 May
FP3: 12:00 – 13:00
Qualifying: 15:00 – 16:00
Sunday 27 May
Race: 15:10 (78 laps or two hours)
Get every session time in your local timezone with our F1 calendar.
What next?
Canada’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will host the seventh round of the season from June 8 to 10