The 2021 Monaco GP was an enthralling event, with this year’s edition living up to its hype and prestige. Charles Leclerc was supposed to start the race as he was the fastest driver in qualifying ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas in 2nd and 3rd respectively. However, due to a crash at the end of Saturday, which damaged his left driveshaft, he could not start the race. Another prominent driver who had a rather bad race was Mercedes’ Valterri Bottas, could not finish because of a wheel issue during a pit stop.
At the end, Verstappen emerged victorious in pole position, making him the leader of the driver’s standings for the first time in his career. Carlos Sainz drove home in second place, winning his first podium for Ferrari. Lando Norris of Mclaren finished 3rd in the beautiful special edition car used just for Monaco. Segio Perez and Sebastien Vettel were forth and fifth respectively, after a great race from both drivers. Vettel won his first points for his new team Aston Martin, while also winning the best driver of the day award.
About the Monaco Grand Prix
Monaco Grand Prix is one of the biggest races of the calendar year. It has a unique combination of history, prestige and excitement that only a few events have. In fact, Monaco GP, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans 24 hours make up the Triple Crown of the most prestigious races in the world. To go with that, it is also the only F1 race in the world to take place inside a city, using the normal roads instead of a specific track. Today we are going to have a look at what makes the Monaco GP so special.
The race itself predates the current F1 world championship; it was first organized in 1929 by the Automobile Club de Monaco under auspices of Prince Louis II. On April 14, William Grover-Williams won the first ever race while driving a Bugatti Type 35B.
The race quickly gained importance in the few years after it’s inception. However, from 1938 to 1947 it was not held due to demand for high appearance fees and later the second world war. Another notable cancellation was in 1949 due to the unfortunate death of the Prince.
Ever since 1950, the race has been officially included in the Formula One World Driver’s Championship, with F1 legend Fangio winning the first edition. During the 1960’s, British driver Graham Hill came to be known as “the king of Monaco” for winning 5 GP races held in the country. He was the most successful driver before the implementation of new Armco safety barriers on the track in the 1970’s. These barriers were put as a result of accidents like Alberto Ascari and Paul Hawkins, where the cars ended up in the harbor waters.
After Hill, there were very few other drivers who were very successful at the Monaco GP – the Brazilian Ayrton Senna has won the race a record 6 times. Michael Schumacher, along with Hill, have won it 5 times; while Alain Prost closely follows with 4 times. Current world champion Lewi Hamilton has won the race 3 times, along with Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart and Nico Rosberg. The most successful team at the race has been McLaren, with 15 wins. Ferrari and Mercedes are a bit behind with 10 and 8 wins respectively.
The Grand Prix circuit de Monaco, along with Monza in Italy is the only track to have had the same circuit ever since it’s inception. The track itself has a total length of about 3.3 kms, making it one of the shortest in the entire season. However, the elevation changes, tight corners and a narrow course makes it one of the most demanding ones in the history of the competition.
Without a doubt, the coming race would be one of the marquee motorsport events of 2021.
Article by Aakash Damiani - International University of Monaco
