Monaco: Track facts
By BAR F1 (18/05/2004)
May 18 2004
Conceived by Antony Noghes, and always held on the weekend following Ascension Day, the Monaco Grand Prix is the most famous race on the Grand Prix calendar and last year celebrated its 50th F1 Grand Prix.
The street circuit is tight, twisty, bumpy, slow and totally unforgiving - an anachronism for today's Formula One cars that gasp and crawl around its 3.340 km lap. However, Monaco remains the race that every driver dreams of winning.
In terms of chassis set-up, there is one overriding concern at Monaco: downforce. Overall speeds are low - cars may reach a maximum of 290km/h through the famous tunnel, but the average speed for a lap is less than half that. The result is that engineers throw everything they can at their cars to generate downforce and optimise low-speed handling. Securing a good grid position is vital since overtaking is truly problematic, and fuel consumption and tyre wear are low. It's a weekend that requires maximum concentration and consistency from drivers and team members alike.
1987 marked the start of Honda's domination of the most glamorous event in world motor sport - the late Ayrton Senna winning no fewer than five Monaco Grands Prix with Honda power between 1987 and 1992.
Senna's run of success was punctuated only by the victory of McLaren-Honda team mate Alain Prost in 1988.