Monaco GP Facts & Figures

By Andrew Hooper
May 23 2003

 

 

  
Facts & Figures
 
* At 3.340 kilometres, Monte Carlo is the shortest GP circuit. Nowhere are a greater number of laps covered (78), yet the total race distance of 260.520 kilometres is the shortest race distance of the season.

* For the 2003 Grand Prix the track has been shortened by 30 metres due to a
straightened-out approach to the Rascasse hairpin. In addition, the pit area –
there are no proper garages in the confined pit lane of Monaco – has been
extended.

* 2003 marks the 50th Monaco Grand Prix. The first took place in 1950 and was
won by Juan Manuel Fangio in an Alfa Romeo.

*  Last year saw the end of Ralf Schumacher’s run of bad luck in Monaco. For five years he had failed to finish in the Mediterranean Principality. In 2002 he started from fourth on the grid to secure a third-placed finish. Montoya enjoyed a pole position start (1:16.676 min), but retired from the race. In 2000 and 2001, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team recorded DNFs.

* WilliamsF1 won the Monaco GP in 1980 (Carlos Reutemann) and in 1983 (Keke Rosberg).

* Scotsman David Coulthard won the 2002 Monaco GP in a McLaren-Mercedes.

* Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Ferrari) holds the lap record of 1:18.023 min.

* In total, some 32,000 people live in Monaco, known as a gambler’s paradise and tax haven. Only one fifth of the population are genuine Monegasques.

* Based on its 1962 constitution, Monaco is a hereditary monarchy. The head of
state is Prince Rainier III. The Grimaldi family have reigned in Monaco since 1331.
 
 
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