THE MONACO GP

THE MAIN EVENT

You can’t escape the glamour in Monaco. Everywhere you turn you see stunning boats, mountainous scenery, and when Formula 1 comes to town, even more beautiful cars.

The circuit can only hold 37,000 fans, but since local businesses remain open throughout the weekend you will quickly find it hard to move around without having to duck-and-dive through crowds of people. Although Monaco traditionally basks in the Mediterranean sun, it’s not unknown for the race to be hit by rain or squally showers.

The track itself has only had small modifications from its original layout, partly to keep up with F1’s safety standards but largely because of the changing topography of Monaco.

Track position has always been critical here on the narrow and menacing streets, and arguably even more with the present generation of ultra-wide high-downforce chassis. Opportunities to overtake around the narrow circuit have become even more rare, which may lead to some frustrated drivers after the race. CLASSIC RACE: 1996

The 1996 event was the very definition of a race of attrition. Just three cars were classified as Oliver Panis took a surprising victory in his Ligier from 14th on the grid.

Heavy rain fell just before the start, making the conditions extremely slippery. Midway through the race only 11 cars remained and as it entered the closing stages Eddie Irvine (Ferrari) crashed at Turn 7, and was then collected by Mika Salo (Tyrrell) and Mika Häkkinen (Mclaren), taking all three out of the race.

The three cars to take the chequered flag were led by Panis – who drove superbly – followed by David Coulthard (Mclaren) in second and Johnny Herbert (Sauber).