Mónaco desde siempre (SPA-ENG)

Monaco since always been

This weekend sees another round of the entertaining and exciting Formula 1 championship, the most important category in world motorsports. It's also the turn of the most iconic race on the calendar: the Monaco Grand Prix, held on the street circuit of the Principality of Monaco, the tiny country, one of Europe's six microstates, and the second smallest in the world.

It seems incredible that this race, which generally turns boring due to the limited opportunities for overtaking, its intricate layout, and the narrowness of the track, which is the city's own streets, can inspire so much enthusiasm, passion, and history.

Sports car racing in the Principality began long before F1. The first race, the Monaco Grand Prix, was held in 1929. It was organized and promoted by Antony Noghès, son of the president of the Automobile Club of Monaco. Noghè was already famous for having conceived and organized the Monte Carlo Rally, which had been running since 1911. That first race was probably the seed that later, in 1950, gave rise to the Formula One category as it is known today.

The first F1 Monaco Grand Prix was held in the year the category was born, 1950, and was won by Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio, who would go on to win five world championships, thus becoming the category's first idol and super driver. His reign as the greatest F1 champion lasted until 2002, when Michael Schumacher caught up with him in number and surpassed him in the following two years to achieve 7, a mark that Lewis Hamilton would also achieve years later.

As I mentioned before, the track runs through the streets of the principality. It's the shortest of the entire season at just 3.3 kilometers. It features curves and sections with famous names like La Rascasse, a dangerous corner named after a former restaurant and bar located on that spot; the High and Low Mirabeau, which lead to the hairpin downhill corner now called the Fairmont Hairpin, although for many years it was known as Loews; and the Tunnel, a wide curve within an underground corridor where high speeds are reached and the changing light makes it seem more dangerous than it is. There's also the Pool Corner and the Casino Corner, another famous building that is very popular on fun Monaco nights.

The Monaco Grand Prix is ​​generally a monotonous race where the front-runner determines the pace, mainly due to the enormous difficulties in overtaking, which is why qualifying is a determining factor. However, things don't always go as expected. Throughout its rich history, there have been some chaotic races, such as the 1982 race, which saw several accidents, retirements, and overtaking, mainly in the closing laps, where Italian Ricardo Patrese ultimately took victory driving a Brabham. Another race held on this street circuit where chaos reigned was the 1996 edition, which was run under intermittent rain. At the start alone, at least six vehicles collided, including Schumacher and Barrichello. All were forced to retire, and this was not the only accident. Between collisions and engine, and component failures, only three drivers finished the full lap. Olivier Panis was the winner, David Coulthard came in second, and Johnny Herbert came in third. To date, it is the race with the fewest finishes in the entire history of the category.

There were also some relevant historical events, such as the 1955 edition, where the historic Italian driver Alberto Ascari fell into the sea after colliding with another vehicle. Fortunately, he was rescued with only minor injuries. Michael Schumacher also has his Monaco history. In 2006, after completing his fastest qualifying lap, he stopped in the middle of the circuit with a few minutes left. The suspected reason was that he did so to prevent someone else from taking his pole position. Carlos Alberto Reutemann also brought legend to Monaco by winning in 1980 under a persistent drizzle with dry-weather tires, beating Frenchman Jacques Laffitte by one minute and 13 seconds, who finished second.

The undisputed "king" of Monaco is the late Ayrton Senna, who holds the record for most victories with six, five of them consecutive between 1989 and 1993. Before the other driver to be nicknamed "Mr. Monaco," it was Englishman Graham Hill who won there five times in the 1960s, and Schumacher also has five victories. Another notable was Nico Rosberg, who won there three consecutive years until his unexpected and early retirement.

We Latin Americans haven't fared too badly. In addition to Senna's six victories, we can count two for Fangio, one for Reutemann, one for Juan Pablo Montoya, and one for Checo Pérez. Regarding Fangio's victories, it's noteworthy given that he was the undisputed dominator of the category between 1950 and 1958, but in his favor, we'll say that the Monaco Grand Prix took a hiatus precisely during those years; it wasn't held between 1951 and 1954.

This year, we'll have two Latin Americans: a Brazilian in Gabriel Bortoleto, and an Argentine, Franco Colapinto. Both are rookies and don't have competitive vehicles. However, their hopes are high, and we hope they can achieve good results in their newly initiated tenure in the category.