F1 Monaco Grand Prix drips with glamour but it has a seedy side: ‘The most disgusting place'

Monaco Grand Prix

'The most disgusting place': Monaco Grand Prix drips with glamour but it has a seedy side too

Monaco is not all diamonds and champagne

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Tuesday 2 June 2026 18:55

The Monaco Grand Prix is perhaps the most glamorous event in world sport, but it also has a seedy side according to a prominent F1 insider.

This weekend in the tiny principality the 78-lap race will once again capture the world’s attention as the 2026 showpiece again takes place on the brutally tight street circuit.

That race for many will be a mere sideshow for many, with the bigger deal being the yachts, the parties and the celebrity-studded events.

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Monaco is THE place to be seen if you are in F1 or want to be in F1, but it is not all diamonds and champagne according to ‘Drive to Survive’ star Will Buxton.

He revealed that there are two distinctly different sides to Monte Carlo in race week, literal polar opposites.

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Monaco Grand prix is glamorous, but also 'a bit rank'

Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast, he said: “It’s basically a fishing village in the south of France and there is a side of it which is incredibly glitzy and glamorous.

“And then there’s a part of it sort of down around the Rascasse corner down on the waterfront there which once the track closes at night is the most disgusting place you’ve been to on earth.

“It reminds me of some of the worst nightclubs I went to in my university days - it’s just stag parties going too large and throwing up on the floor.

“There’s another side to Monaco on race week that’s a little bit gross. But if you’re there in your sparkly dresses on the yachts it’s absolutely gorgeous. Otherwise it’s a bit rank.”

People watching in Monaco is 'unreal'

“One thing I love about Monaco is people watching. People watching in Monaco is just unreal because it’s properly how the other half live. It’s just hilarious because it’s everything to excess.”

The action off track is very much already under way in Monaco, with the action on track due to begin with Free Practice 1 on Friday.

The Monaco Grand Prix - run over 78 gruelling laps - starts at 3pm local time on Sunday (2pm UK, 9am Eastern).

F1 Monaco Grand Prix