Things to know before the Monaco Grand Prix
The 2019 FIA Formula One Championship reached its sixth round, the Monaco Grand Prix. Before the lights go green, we take a look at the most important facts of the most spectacular event of the season.
Race facts
66 – Today’s Monaco Grand Prix will be run for the 66th time. The sport only missed the Principality between 1951 and 1954 and has visited it every time since.
Senna – The Brazilian three-time world champion holds the record for most wins in Monaco with six. He took one of them for Lotus and the other five for McLaren.
Four – Four drivers on the current grid have won in Monaco. Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have scored two victories apiece while Kimi Räikkönen and Daniel Ricciardo have been victorious once.
Ricciardo – Monaco must be on Ricciardo’s list of favourite tracks. The Australian took his maiden F1 pole on the tight streets of the Principality. He repeated this success last year on his way to his maiden F1 Monaco victory.
300th – This weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix marks a big achievement for Kimi Räikkönen. The race will represent his 300th presence at an F1 race weekend. However, it will only be his 297th race starts as he missed three starts – the 2001 Belgian GP due to a transmission problem, the 2005 United States GP due to tyre issues and the 2017 Malaysian GP because of engine problems.
No problem – Four drivers will make their Monaco F1 debut in today’s race – Antonio Giovinazzi, Lando Norris, Alexander Albon and George Russell will all start their first F1 race on the daunting streets of Monaco. However, all of them have races in Monaco before so they should be up to the task.
24 – Last year, Charles Leclerc became the first Monegasque driver to start his home grand prix. The last driver from Monaco to have raced on the home streets was Olivier Beretta back in 1994.
Facts about the track
1:14.260 – That is the actual lap record around the twisty Monaco race track. Max Verstappen recorded the fastest lap during the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, lowering the previous record.
Race distance – As the average speed is the lowest of the year at around 160 km/h, drivers are unable to cover the usual minimum of 305km during the race. Completing a total of 78 laps around the 3.337km-long circuit, drivers cover a race distance of 260.286km.
60km/h – Due to the tight pit lane, drivers have to adhere to the speed limit of 60km/h in the pit lane during the entire race weekend.
DRS – There is only a single DRS in Monaco, with the detection point located 80m after Turn 16 and the activation point located 18m after Turn 19.
Surface – The track has been resurfaced in a number of places, with changes being made for example to Massanet, Tabac, the Swimming Pool exit and the Anthony Noghes exit. In total, two-thirds of the circuit have been resurfaced for this year.
19 - The layout features 19 turns of which eight are left-handed ones while eleven right-handed corners.
Safety and logistics
Communication - The organisers use a total of 260 talkie-walkies to reach each other in the quickest way during the weekend.
Safety at first - The track is confined by 800m-long Tecpro-barriers. 1420 tyres were used for building the confines of the track. 800 fire extinguishers are standby and ready to be used. 10 cranes are stationary next to the track. As usual, a helicopter is also ready to be used if needed. In the medical centre, eight doctors and 22 first aid nurses work.
Security - 701 security people work during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend to provide the event with the best security.
The most important - 670 marshals work during the weekend, occupying a total of 44 intervention stations.
