Hypertrash FREE ARTICLE - The Monaco GP Will Not Be Televised - Nathanael Napolitano

HYPERTRASH

THE MONACO GP WILL NOT BE TELEVISED BECAUSE IT WAS FUCKING CANCELED. WORDS + PHOTOGRAPHS

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NATHANAEL NAPOLITANO



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DISAPPOINTMENT

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or the first time (sort of) since WWII, the Monaco Grand Prix has been canceled. The 2020 cancellation was due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Work had already begun on preparing the streets of Monte Carlo for the race—which was set to take place May 21-24. After a meeting between FIA, F1, and team bosses—the decision was made to cancel the event as it was deemed untenable.

In a statement, the Automobile Club of Monaco said, "The current situation concerning the worldwide pandemic and its unknown path of evolution, the lack of understanding as to the impact on the world championship, the uncertainty with regards to the participation of the teams, the multi-border restrictions for accessing the Principality of Monaco, the pressure on all implicated businesses, their dedicated staff who are unable to undertake the necessary installations, the availability of the indispensable workforce and volunteers (more than 1500) required for the success of the event means that the situation is no longer tenable."

Unsurprisingly, this decision came only hours after 62-yearold Prince Albert of Monaco confirmed that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19. One of the first high-profile figures in the world to contract the SARS-2-CoV virus.

Almost all 2020 Formula One races have either been postponed or canceled through July. At the time of this writing GP events affected were—Australia, Bahrain, Vietnam, China, Dutch, Spain, Monaco, Azerbaijan, Canada, France, Austria, and British. Formula E had been suspended indefinitely.

Red flag during GP2 crash.

Hypertrash had planned to cover the 2020 Monaco GP in May for this summer issue and to do a soft launch for the magazine in Monte Carlo. We already had the flights and accommodations booked, and were in the process of planning some modest activities with our local contacts. Then everything instantly fell a part like one of Scuderia Ferrari’s race day strategies.

While we cannot go Monaco for the GP this year unless a decision is made to reschedule it later in the season (a crushing defeat—fuck you COVID) we are still going to try and stay positive. Instead we will be presenting a photo retrospective from travels to previous grands prix in the following pages.

Specifically from 2012 to 2019 omitting 2015 as I did not attend due to a motorcycle trip from Los Angeles to Anchorage (story to be published in Hypertrash Quarterly later this year). Sadly this article is going to be short. It will basically be a quick photo dump catered toward those who prefer photos to words. A little overview of the sights at Monaco. But first, the following page has some fun facts about the Monaco GP—the oldest and most famous street circuit on the F1 the calendar— for the race fans.

Hopefully next year we can bring you some of the action from the 2021 GP—or at least that's our plan anyway.

Sergio Perez exiting Tabac (turn 12), for Sauber.

Opposite: Sebastian Vettel enters pit lane.



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FIRST RACE

MOST WINNING AYRTON SENNA (6) MCLAREN (15) MERCEDES (15)

ONLY WAR AND PANDEMICS STOP THE MONACO GP (MOSTLY) MONACO GP WARTIME RACING

FIRST WINNER WILLIAM GROVER-WILLIAMS (BUGATTI)

1938-1947 WWII Era: Races were intermittently run in varying forms.

LONGEST STINT

1938 and 1939: No races as war had broken out.

Until 2020, the Monaco GP was held uninterrupted for 64 years from 1955 to 2019 with wins by Maurice Trintignant (Ferrari) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) respectively.

1940-1945: Races limited to a small number of events, no organized championship, majority of races held in U.S. (No Monaco GP due to WWII) 1946: First post WWII GP's to include defined F1 criteria with no organized championship. (No Monaco GP 1946 or 1947 due to WWII recovery)

WINS IN A ROW

1948 First post WWII Monaco GP with Giuseppe Farina winning for Maserati.

AYRTON SENNA (5) MCLAREN GRAHAM HILL (3) BRM ALAIN PROST (3) MCLAREN NICO ROSBERG (3) MERCEDES

1949: GP's continued with FIA definitions as the foundation for modern F1. Still no organized championship.

(No Monaco GP in 1949- Prince Louis II passes) 1950: Fourth season of FIA rules and the Inaugural World Championship of drivers.

1951-1954: GP's continue with FIA rules and the World Championship of Drivers.

(No Monaco GP 1951. 1953 and 1954 also canceled due to Antony Noghes announcing his retirement) 1955: Monaco GP continues uninterrupted with FIA rules and World Championship of Drivers until May 2020 (canceled due to COVID-19).

LAP RECORD 8

(RACE)

MAX VERSTAPPEN 1:14:260 MAY 27, 2018 6th (current) track configuration 

Opposite: Fans turn a vegetated hillside into bleachers to poach views of the action down pit lane.

DISCLAIMER: We pulled this data from a variety of sources, please contact us for corrections or our list of citations if interested.

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Felipe Massa approaching La Rascasse (turn 17).

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Scuderia Ferrari pit crew not particularly hyped about their practice tire changes.

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Sebastian Vettel checking out my sweet camera as he gets fitted in his RB8 by lead Red Bull mechanic Ole Schack. ďťż

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The Monaco GP is from another time. It is a proper street course inducted in an era before the FIA and standardized safety regulations. Monaco is one of only two circuits which have only one DRS zone, the other being Suzuka. This course requires absolute concentration and precision driving for the entire length of it. If you are offline by more than a few inches, you can hit the Armco barriers. It is very difficult to pass other cars. Driving through a city-state up to 320 km/h with tight corners and no run-off zones sounds like a tough day at the office.

Obviously there is the whole Monaco prestige—the obscene display of wealth, the yachts, and the Casino Monte Carlo as a backdrop for 007 films Never Say Never Again (1983) and GoldenEye (1995). But on this one weekend, everyone can be part of it, if you can get there.

There is a phenomenon that exists in all levels of sports. A disparity between the haves, the have-nots, the hopefuls… It’s no different from European football, or American NASCAR racing.

Contracts for millions of dollars for the sponsored, billions in revenue for the team owners. For all the showing of money and excess at the top, there are the fans from all levels who make the annual pilgrimage to feel the engine noise rattle in their chests and pierce their tympanic membranes.

As a city street course, it is essentially open to all. If you can get to La Condamine train station or drive into Monte Carlo. Once there the track is open all day and all night. Anyone can walk around the course, stop in and have a drink at La Rascasse and enjoy the sights and activity of race set up.

On any day leading up to Thursday practice, you can stroll down pit lane and have a peek in the garages, see the mechanics setting up the cars, practicing tire changes and driver extrication, and of course—you can see the drivers. They walk back and forth be-

tween the paddocks, the pits, and the media pen. All the spaces between these areas are city streets and sidewalks and open to all.

The perfect chance to meet your favorite driver and get a photo or autograph.

There is the perception that this race is for the rich and famous, snobby, and exclusive. All that is just marketing and media reel highlights. Street courses have this raw and gritty vibe to them and Monaco is no different. Anytime you put a red and white painted curb around a corner or paint a black and white checkered stripe on the street, you automatically introduce just a little bit of contamination to the area. Because racing—at its core—is a dirty, filthy habit. No matter how much carbon fiber or silicon you throw at it. Racing is an addiction.

Monaco has graffiti too. The first time I went I found a mosaic tile

by Invader glued to a building. Which makes sense—he is French after all. Invader is known for his ceramic tile mosaics modeled on the pixelated art of 1970s–1980s 8-bit video games, many of which depict aliens from the 1978 arcade game Space Invaders.

Almost every stage, section, and turn of this course has it’s Armco barrier butted up against a curb where just beyond the sidewalk is a shop, restaurant, pharmacy or apartment building. The starting grid, finish line, flaggers box, and podium are only a few meters perpendicular to a rue (road) called Rue Princess Caroline—a stretch of narrow cobble stoned street very similar to say—3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA. If you don’t want to pay the 400-500 Euro ticket price to sit in the bleachers for the race and be restricted to watching the cars race by in a blur past that one corner for 72 laps, you can post up outside at a table in one of the restaurants on Rue Princess Caroline, have lunch, and watch the race on one of the dozens of flat screen TVs while you get your ears blown out as the F1 cars rip past you down the start/finish straight which will be three or four meters from the table you're sitting at. There's nothing quite like it. 3

@stateofnathan

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Mark Weber and Sebastian Vettel probably discussing something important.

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