Moncaco Grand Prix – Off to the Race

Monaco

We have never been real Formula One Race fans, but when we realized that we were close enough to attend one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the world, the Monaco Grand Prix, we decided that we just had to go. We called the Monaco port and were told that it would be over $9,000 to dock in Berkeley East in Monaco for the race.

So we put Berkeley East in a marina in Cannes and took the train into Monaco. We went for two days, first for qualifying and practice sessions, and then for the big race. Most of Monaco was closed, the harbor was packed with large yachts and the city streets became the racetrack. There were grandstands on every corner, room for thousands of people to watch Monaco’s premier event. And there were thousands of people there, true Formula One fans dressed in their favorite team’s gear, the atmosphere was exhilarating. We met a father and son from South Africa who had traveled to Europe specifically for the Grand Prix. For years they have gone to Formula One races all over the world, this was their first time in Monaco. We spent time talking with them and learned some basics about the rules of the race. We asked if there were typically so many crashes in qualifying and practices laps (as there had been that day), and they said no, except in Monaco. The Monaco track is so tight; it is more difficult and treacherous than others.

On race day, the grandstands were full, along with all the boats that lined the harbor. We were surrounded by a sea of red jerseys and hats, lots and lots of Ferrari fans, not surprising since we were so close to Italy.

The start line was behind us, so we heard and felt the effect as 24 Formula One cars revved their engines to over 18,000 rpm and took off around the track. We had a clear view of three points of the track, two of which were tight turns.

The race went for 78 laps. The cars went around so fast that by the time the last car went by us, the first one was nearly there again. As the laps wound down, two cars, a Ferrari and a McLaren, were challenging the leader SebastianVettel.

But Vettel got lucky as another car crashed and the race had to be stopped to extract the driver, allowing Vettel time to put on new tires and hold off the competition when the race restarted.

The two hours in the hot sun went by in a flash. We talked about following the Formula One circuit through Europe — it was easy to get caught up in the excitement.