The Monaco Grand Prix is the last street course remaining in the Formula One calendar. Staged around the narrow, winding streets of Monte Carlo, the attraction of the Monaco Grand Prix is the proximity of the speeding Formula One cars to the race spectators. The twisting 78-lap circuit offers countless opportunities over the 263-kilometre race to witness the thrill of screaming engines, smoking tyres and the genius of the drivers on a course that allows no margin for error. Since the first Monaco Grand Prix was staged on the 14 April 1929, the fastest average race speed for the Monte Carlo circuit has risen from 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour to 142 kilometres (88 miles) per hour.
Unless your name is Michael Schumacher, you won’t hit 160 mph when you drive the course but more likely a sedate 30 mph. However, you can follow most of the route that the Formula One boys take, including the sweep of the Virage du Portier tunnel and the hairpins of Virage Rascasse and at the Monte Carlo Grand Hotel. Once you’re in Monaco, you’ll agree it’s a treat just to see the route and the glamour of the place for yourself and imagine what it would be like to drive it flat out in race conditions with the eyes of the world on you.