How F1 turns Monte Carlo into the Monaco Grand Prix

F1 Explained: How F1 turns Monte Carlo into the Monaco Grand Prix

Joas van Wingerden

Friday 18 May 2018 11:41

The world-famous Monaco Grand Prix is next up, without doubt the glitziest event on the Formula 1 calendar. F1's top drivers take to the same Monte Carlo streets that a lot of them live on during the rest of the year. But how does F1 turn the town into a race track?

The Monaco Grand Prix is the only race to have featured in every year of the World Championship since its inception in 1950 and the Circuit de Monaco has not changed much in that time.

READ MORE: Monaco Grand Prix Factfile
READ MORE: Why is Monaco practice on a Thursday?

FIA race director Charlie Whiting is the man in charge of the action on the track each year, and offered a fascinating insight into how the race is put together every year.

"Monaco is one of the easy ones really, they've been doing it for so long," Whiting told Mobil 1 The Grid. "They know exactly what to do. It's a massive job. Every guardrail and post has a number on it and it corresponds with a number on the ground where the hole is in the street.

"At this stage, we basically turn up and it's done.

"Monaco is mostly done by the same guy every year and he'll come along and say: 'Bang, bang, bang. Bolt up and that's done.' It's not as simple as that, of course, but that's how it looks."

The full story from Whiting is below...