Classic Monaco GPs

[steveaki13]

In celebration of the upcoming Monaco GP, I have decided to go back and watch some old Monaco races. Starting with my earliest on DVD 1989. I am hoping to work my way through some and share some old memories with you.

Also feel free to add memories you have of old Monaco races.

[steveaki13]

Watching this race its clear how hard Monaco used to be. I mean so far by lap 45 of 77 we have only 14 or 15 of the 26 starters. (77 laps due to an aborted start)

Also we forget how lucky we are with live timings. I think in the hour and a quarter I have seen a graphic of the top6 three times. And apart from Murray going 1to 10 occasionally you have no idea what is happening down the field unless you catch a bit of action as people are lapped.

Senna is 40 seconds ahead of Prost, Brundle & Modena are 3rd & 4th in the Brabhams, of course Brundle would lose loads of time after a battery problem. Unseen he recovered from 9th to 6th.

This race is also legendry for James Hunt saying "Bull ****" live on BBC. :p After hearing some excuse from Arnoux about how he is struggling now his Ligier is non Turbo powered.

A fun race to watch thus far.

[Mintexmemory]

For gods sake (or anyone elses) get the footage of the 1970 race on Youtube. There are some fairly lengthy clips, one I believe from the BBC's 100 greatest sporting moments. In 1970 in the UK only 2 F1 races were televised live; Monaco (start, update and last 10 laps) and the whole of the British GP. As a 15 year old fan you can imagine how fabulous it was to see Jochen Rindt hunt down Jack Brabham and force the last lap error which saw him win. The car control shown is fantastic. There have been very compelling Senna performances since but that is the one that always makes me tingle

[steveaki13]

Well 1990 wasnt as fun as 1989. It was remarkable though to see a young Alesi running 3rd then finishing 2nd in a Tyrell.

Mansell was having a tough time after falling to 15th, but he proves you can pass at Monaco by returning up to 4th before retiring though.

Senna rocked to other win around the streets.

Looking forward to watching 1991.

[steveaki13]

1991 was a good race, and again had a Tyrell running second for 40 laps. Modena was racing well chasing Senna, who was again in a class of one.

Modena was affected badly when lapping Pirro in the Dallara and Martini in the minardi. I assume they thought he was Nakajima who was running behind them at the time, because despite blue flags the held him up for 4 laps, allowing Patrese to close. Because of this Martini was given the first ever 10 second stop and go, according to Murray Walker.

Sadly Modenas engine exploded in the tunnel and Patrese hit the wall after skidding on the oil. The other great moment was Mansell catching Prost and launching up the inside into the sea front chicane. Great move.

[steveaki13]

1992 and a 4th straight win for Senna, not a simple one though, he trailed the mighty Mansell Williams Combo until he pitted with a few laps to go, then we had that epic battle with Mansell looking outside, inside, under and over for a way past but Senna held on.

Else where, Schumacher had a great first race at Monaco, hustling all the way.

[steveaki13]

1993 was an action filled race, Prost jumped the start from pole and got a stop and go dropping to 18th.

That gave Senna his 5th straight win, while Damon Hill got 2nd despite being spun round by Berger at the hairpin blocking the track, he managed to keep going while Berger retired leaving Alesi 3rd and Prost passed plenty of people finising 4th.

Good Race

[steveaki13]

1994 was a very sombre race, considering Sennas death a few days earlier, but Schumacher got a dominant win after losing one in 1993.

Not a great race I suppose, but Martin Brundle got 2nd for Mclaren, including an amazing move around the OUTSIDE into Mirabeau. Not something you often see.

[steveaki13]

1995. Moving on to 1995 and a first corner shunt between the Ferraris and Coulthards Williams lead to a restart, where Schumacher and Benetton outwitted Williams and beat Hill to the win.

Alesi was on for 2nd but Brundle spun his Ligier while being lapped and took out the Ferrari.

Fortis were troublesome on many occasions while being lapped.

A good race.

[jens]

Fabulous stuff, Mr Steve Aki.

Monaco has indeed some special aura about it. Even if the races are processional, I am still excited. Simply because the sight of cars dancing between the armco-barriers on a narrow piece of tarmac at such speeds is astonishing in itself. And you can watch such super-precise skills of driving in action for almost two hours.

Anyway, my favourite moment for a very personal fanboy reason is of course Trulli's sole Grand Prix win in 2004.
The race of 2005 made my jaw drop as the ending was so fascinating. Tyre degradation really brought a change into the game and two Williams cars got onto the podium in addition to the dominant display of Räikkönen.
Vettel's defence in 2011 was fascinating as well.

[steveaki13]

Am now watching the legendry 1996 race and after 7 laps we have 10 cars out.

One Forti didnt start. Montermini I think

Verstappen hit the wall into St. Devote and Fisichella spun his Minardi up to Casino Square, then out of Lowes Schumi stuck the Ferrari into the wall, the Barrichello spins out in Rascasse. 5 out in laps 1 & 2.

Rosset then spun at Rascasse as well, then Berger pulled out, Diniz blew up and the other Minardi dissapeared.

Hill leads already in damp conditions by 20 seconds from Alesi, while a very slow Irvine runs 3rd and holds up a que of everyone from himself 3rd to 11th. Frentzen so desperate to pass smashed his front wing and fell back.

So all this happening before lap 20.

[steveaki13]

Well we all know how the 1996 race ended, with only 4 cars going the distance. It was a bizzare spectacle. Panis securing the win ahead of DC in a Schumi helmet.

[steveaki13]

1997 has been almost as crazy, this was a fully wet race all race. The Williams starting 1st and 3rd on slicks and were mobile chicanes early on as Schumacher Michael cruised away at 3 seconds a lap.

By 10 laps he was 33 seconds ahead, with Barrichello in a stewart 2nd. Panis looked like doing it again running 3rd for a time.

While Mclarens both retired at the same time on lap 2. Coulthard spun at the chicane, and hakkinen then ploughed into cars watching DC spinning.

Both Williams were slow and retired and cars span everywhere. #

Also another story was Salo in the Tyrell finishing 5th without refueling.

Schumacher won easily, but did spin at St. Devote late on but at the time was 1 minute and 10 seconds ahead. Rubens getting 2nd and a great podium for Irvine.

And Panis getting 4th after last years win.

[steveaki13]

So 1998 and the first year of modern grooved tyred cars and Hakkinen looked awesome here and won at a canter. Fisichella put in a great drive to get the benetton 2nd.


Irvine picked up 3rd after that memorable clash between Wurz and Schumi,when Schumacher lauched up the inside of Lowe's but Wurz clashed wheels and power back around the outside and ran wide over that little kerb and Schumi passed him inside into Portier. Epic

Salo and Diniz finished 4th and 6th for Arrows in there great black livery.

Good race

[D-Type]

Lets go back and look at some of the races before we were born - let alone before we started following racing. No TV. not the same number of specialist magazine reports as they didn't always cover every race because of the difficulties getting a reporter there. But the newspapers, including more local papers than today , often gave extensive coverage. And many writers have studied the available information when writing their books.

1929 saw the first race. The Automobile Club de Monaco wanted to join the International Association of Automobile Clubs (the forerunner of the FIA) but their application was turned down as Monaco was considered too small and the Monte Carlo Rally took place mainly outside the country. So they went ahead and organised a Grand Prix wholly within Monaco on what was probably the only circuit possible in the town. Commercially holding the race in the spring made sense as it would boost tourism in the lull between the winter 'Season' and those taking their summer holidays.

The Autocar clearly didn't think much of the idea as they wrote:
That capital little affairr the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, which is to run wild through the streets of the Principality, has received twenty-three entries, all of which the promoters appear anxious to start. This affair should be the nearest approach to a Roman chariot race that has been seen in recent years. presumably the officials consider the number of runners will be reduced at the end of the first round ...

As it turned out 16 cars started the race. Half of them being Bugattis. A 'works' car for Englishman 'W Williams' (William Grover) and the rest being independents. None of the major stars, Varzi, Nuvolari, Chiron (despite his being Monagesque he was at Indianapolis), Campari, competed but Caracciola was there with a huge SSK Mercedes-Benz. Starting grid positions were allocated by a random draw. Once the field sorted itself out Caracciola led until mid-race pit stops when the amount of fuel the Mercedes required together with two replacement tyres meant a long pit stop which cost him the race. Williams in the works Bugatti 35B went on to win at an average speed of 50 mph (80 kph).

British historians tended to ignore Williams' win and jump straight from Segrave to Seaman and on to Moss, Hawthorn and Collins. This is partially due to the race being at the time a minor race and also because 'Williams,, or William Grover, was domilciled in France and never competed at Brooklands, Shelsley Walsh etc and was thus unknown to the British motor racing public and press. But he was the first winner of this iconic race.

[steveaki13]

Great Stuff

[Corvettian]

I have a limited-edition signed print of the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix, so that shall be "my" Monaco story! (even though I was only 6 months old at the time...)
The 1972 race was the last on the "old" Monaco circuit. Jean-Pierre Beltoise started fourth for BRM, but soon took a lead which he never relinquished. He drove a superb race in pouring rain, posting fastest lap and winning by 38 seconds. Only Jacky Ickx (Ferrari) finished on the same lap.
It was Beltoise' only Formula 1 win, and BRM's last.
Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website (http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1972/505/)

[steveaki13]

I have a limited-edition signed print of the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix, so that shall be "my" Monaco story! (even though I was only 6 months old at the time...)
The 1972 race was the last on the "old" Monaco circuit. Jean-Pierre Beltoise started fourth for BRM, but soon took a lead which he never relinquished. He drove a superb race in pouring rain, posting fastest lap and winning by 38 seconds. Only Jacky Ickx (Ferrari) finished on the same lap.
It was Beltoise' only Formula 1 win, and BRM's last.
Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website (http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1972/505/)

Nice.

Who is the print signed by?

[D-Type]

Beltoise in 1972 - the yardstick for judging wet races for many years, eg "Almost as wet as when Beltoise won at Monaco".

Another one from the depths of history, the 1933 race. Incidentally this was the first GP where grid positions were determined by practice times.
All the top men were there: Varzi, Chiron, Nuvolari, Entacelin, Fagioli, Wimille, Caracciola, etc. and inaugural winner, Williams. Caracciola crashed in practice, fracturing a thigh bone which put him out of racing for a year and gave him a permanent limp. Starting from pole, Varzi (Bugatti) took an immediate lead. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) had started from 4th place on the gridbut took the lead on lap 4. Then followed one of the most intense duels ever seen. There were no fewer than 17 changes of the lead. Yes, 17 lead changes at Monaco! And so it went on. On lap 81 Varzi took the lead but Nuvolari regained it on lap 83 and stretched his lead to 4 seconds, the biggest gap of the race at the end of lap 99. On the climb up to the Casino Varzi held onto 3rd gear taking his engine to 7000 rpm well over the usual limit. . But Varzi fought back and drew alongside at the end of lap 98 and was marginally ahead as they entered the final lap. On the climb to the Casino Varzi held onto 3rd gear and took his engine to 7000 rpm. Nuvolari held him until a piston failed and his engine belched smoke. He coasted through the tunnel and jumped out to push his car to the line for second place. worried about a possible fire a mechanic helped him and thus Nuvolari was disqualified. Borzacchini's Alfa Romeo just made the finish to secure second place, the only car on the same lap as Varzi. So, a terrific race with last lap drama.

Definitely high on my list of where to get the time machine to take me back to.

[Corvettian]

Nice.

Who is the print signed by?
The print was signed by Beltoise, Ickx, Louis Stanley (BRM team principal) Tim Parnell (team manager) and Tony Southgate (designer).

[D28]

The comments by Corvettian and others bring back memories of my visit to Monaco 1972. I also have a signed race program, but sadly the signature is my own, along with some hen scratched notes on qualifying times.
The thing I remember most, is getting thoroughly soaked waiting for the High Royals to finish a lunch, so the race could start at 3 PM. They did a tour in a closed Bentley, to a lot of jeers from my Italian neighbours. The current start time has been moved forward an hour, no doubt to mesh with Bernie's TV audience.
What is hard to believe is that I arrived by train Thurs with no tickets, or accomodations and managed to secure both, though the room was shared
with 2 Austrian students. The prices also are revealing, I had good seats at St Devote for 100 F, I suspect those prices have increased beyond normal inflationary rates today. The race then was still of interest to motoring aficionados, and not yet the social spectacle of today.
Interestingly 7 current or future WC were on the race program Stewart, G Hill, Hulme, E Fittipaldi and Lauda in F1, and Hunt and Jones in the F 3 support race, Both Hunt and Jones DNQ.
The race was a downer for me, as I was a tifosi and J.P Beltoise was not very popular in Italian circles at the time. I think he lead from start to finish, certainly was full measure in his only win.

I got to meet Tony Trimmer's Lotus mechanics at the Tip Top bar, but didn't think to get their signature. Also witnessed sophisticated crowd control, Monegasque style.. a fire pumper with hoses ready!
All told, a race experience to remember.