A kickabout in the stadium, a revised podium and cheering on Fernando Alonso from afar. Motorsport Week reports from the off-track activities in Monaco…
The weekend began with the annual charity football match between the ‘Nazionale Piloti’ and the ‘AS Star Team’, held at the Stade Louis II, home to Ligue 1 title-winners Monaco FC. The organisation was typically sub-par but there was a healthy crowd of locals, eager to cheer on selected Formula 1 drivers. Felipe Massa put in a lengthy stint, Daniel Ricciardo appeared while Mika Häkkinen missed a gilt-edge chance for the drivers. The match ended 2-1 to the AS Star Team, which was managed by Claudio Ranieri, but Maro Engel provided the highlight with a fantastic bicycle kick for the drivers.
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Red Bull’s Energy Station was once again the centre of attention in Monaco, the grand structure typically expanded for the race weekend, having been constructed and sailed in from Italy. Celebrities mingled on the expansive deck area, on which two show cars were located, while Red Bull athletes demonstrated their skills, most spectacularly stunt biker Dougie Lampkin, who careered between the different levels of the Energy Station and performed tricks in tightly-confined arena, jumping over a (presumably wary) person lying on the ground. Freestyle footballer Sean Garnier though, met his match with an overenthusiastic journalist, who inadvertently kicked the ball beneath the raised Energy Station, not to be seen again…
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Renault is this season celebrating 40 years in Formula 1 and the manufacturer kick-started the party in Monaco, linking with Disney, which is also commemorating four decades of the Star Wars franchise. Creator George Lucas was in town to witness Renault’s tie-up, while Nico Hülkenberg and Jolyon Palmer both wore special race suits. Hülkenberg was dressed as a Stormtrooper, while Palmer was given an X-wing pilot suit. However, Hülkenberg only felt the force of a gearbox failure, with Palmer finishing outside of the points again.
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Jenson Button made his one-off return to Formula 1 in place of Indianapolis-bound Alonso and appeared more tanned and relaxed as ever, though insisted he was fully concentrated on the weekend at hand. Button fared well against young team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne and qualified ninth but the dreaded engine penalties sent him to the back of the pack, from where he scrapped with Pascal Wehrlein, ultimately tipping the German into a side-on impact with the Portier wall. It was a clumsy and sad way for Button’s F1 career to end, though the stewards caused mirth by handing him a three-place grid penalty…
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One element of Monaco which had remained unique was the podium, with the top three drivers parking along the pit straight before walking a few steps up to the Royal Box to collect their trophies, after which they celebrated among their mechanics. Sadly, the quirk was gone for 2017 as a new Royal Box, which featured a revised, raised podium, had been constructed, a year after Race Control’s tower was given a makeover. Monaco’s nuances remain, but this was a step towards homogenisation, and it lacked the personality of the previous approach.
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On Sunday evening McLaren’s Brand Centre was transformed in order for paddock folk to watch the Indianapolis 500, and to follow Fernando Alonso’s quest for victory. McLaren catering partners Absolute Taste were decked out in red-and-black US-style clothing, supplying those who attended with burgers, hot dogs, pulled chicken, fries and popcorn, while US flags hung through the centre of the three-storey building. The atmosphere was electric, as people willed on Alonso, cheering and applauding some of his audacious moves, but the mood soon turned to desolation and devastation when, alas, his engine failed. No-one could quite believe it.
