Up against
the limits of 78 laps: no other grand prix circuit puts drivers and cars
under such extreme strains. Nowhere else do man and machine have to work
together as perfectly as in the labyrinth of corners that is Monte Carlo.
“This race is certainly Formula 1’s toughest challenge,” says Sam Michael,
Technical Director of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team.
When Formula 1 hits the small principality on the Côte d’Azur, not only the
world of the rich and the beautiful turns upside down. The Brazilian, Nelson
Piquet, who claimed his third World Championship title with Williams in 1987
but never managed to win in Monaco, once described the unique endurance test
of Formula 1’s last urban circuit by saying: “Driving a race here is like
flying a helicopter through your living room.” The 900bhp race cars speed
along at up to 300 kilometres per hour through streets that usually see only
walking-pace traffic. Spacious run-off zones do not exist – even the
slightest mistake inevitably leads the drivers straight into one of the
5,500 crash barriers installed especially for the race. |
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For the drivers
the most important grand prix of the season is a tremendous tour de force.
The 3,340km route, which passes the casino, harbour and swimming pool in the
city centre, does not hinge on specific critical points: it demands
inch-perfect precision all the time. Nevertheless, some corners still stand
out, such as Massenet following the rising Beau Rivage, where drivers must
intuitively find the correct turn-in point while braking from 250km/h down
to 130km/h.
The search for the ideal racing line is made all the more tricky by the
uneven nature of much of the circuit, as well as the slippery lane markings
and zebra crossings. This demands the highest possible degree of
concentration from the drivers over the entire race distance of 260,520km –
and there is always the nagging certainty in the back of their minds that
they can forget the race if they make a single mistake. This occasionally
brings even the most stress-hardened drivers to their mental limit, and the
physical strain is also enormous. The 15 corners mean a constant change from
acceleration to deceleration. No other circuit in Formula 1 requires as many
gearshifts as Monaco: on average, drivers change gear every two seconds,
adding up to a total of 40 times per lap and almost 3,100 times per race.
Thirsty work, especially with temperatures inside their overalls reaching 60
degrees Celsius. Over the course of the race, the drivers lose three to four
litres of fluid, so anyone not perfectly fit does not stand a chance.
Because overtaking is as good as impossible in Monte Carlo’s maze of
corners, qualifying can often decide the race. A good starting position is
more decisive for success here than at any other venue. At the start, it’s
not only the driver’s good reactions that count – the perfect function of
the clutch is also important. The race cars’ 900bhp need to be transferred
to the road in a careful balancing act. If the drivers were simply to put
their feet down, the wheels would spin because, when accelerating from a
standstill, the cars develop hardly any down-force. So the power must be
carefully controlled with a rocker switch which ensures that the clutch does
not fully engage but grinds instead. The excess energy is absorbed by the
clutch’s discs, heating them up to over 1,000 degrees Celsius in less than
half a second.
The engines suffer fewer stresses in Monaco than they do on high-speed
circuits such as Indianapolis or Monza. They run at full throttle for only
eight seconds per lap – the proportion of flat-out driving is thus merely 70
percent compared to a more usual race track. However, this circuit still
holds its risks for the engines: no other Formula 1 track has such a large
range of speeds. After passing through the hairpin bend at the Grand Hotel
at only 45km/h, the slowest stretch of all Formula 1 races, drivers in the
tunnel are accelerating to 280km/h only seconds later.
Once Monte Carlo’s street carnival begins and 120,000 spectators storm the
principality, life also changes drastically for the natives. It becomes a
city in turmoil. The short walk to the corner shop is blocked by fences and
bars, and even accessing the dustbins – now located off-limits – requires a
special permit. There are only two things one can do: either close the
shutters or become a Formula 1 fan.
And did you know…
…that the changing lighting conditions in the 400-metre tunnel in Monaco no
longer trouble the drivers as severely as before since the sport’s governing
body, the FIA, provided more light in 2001? The optical ambient-condition
system redirects sunlight into the tunnel’s interior and creates a cone of
light that makes entering the dark concrete tube easier for the drivers and
provides almost optimal illumination inside the tunnel. Everyday drivers are
not afforded such luxuries. “Although modern tunnels with exemplary
illumination do exist,” Dr. Hartmuth Wolff of the Allianz Center for
Technology (AZT) says, “most tunnels are rather badly lit or even lack
lighting altogether. To drivers, especially when facing the glare of
oncoming traffic, they appear as black holes.” |
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