Events & Tours
Monaco Grand Prix Historique
The Grand Prix Historique in Monaco returned in 2021 after being cancelled the previous year, featuring races with vintage cars from different eras of motorsport. The spectacle of the races was surpassed by the sight of the pristine cars lined up on the starting grid, followed by the roar of their engines as they shot off into the distance. The races were hard-fought and emotional, with some drivers winning multiple titles, while others crashed their cars. The article concludes by encouraging readers to mark their calendars for the 2022 edition of the event.
Rewinding the hands of time and finding yourself in Monaco, on the circuit laid out on the normal streets of the Principality, “a mountain track with a city around it”, as Graham Hill liked to call it, passing from “pre-war” single-seater racers to front-engined examples from the 1950s in a single day. Then enjoying the Le Mans Sports Cars, not entirely at ease on the twisty and narrow streets of the circuit all the way up to the battles between different Formula 1 Groupings from later eras driven in turn by champions of the calibre of Alesi and Arnoux, as in the case of famous Ferrari 312 B3, is like being in another world.
Cancelled last year, the Grand Prix Historique returned in 2021 with a cheering public in the stands, albeit a diminished one. The spectacle of the races, fought without too much respect for the precious jewels on the track in this almost surreal world where everything speaks of the past, was however surpassed by those “suspended” moments that preceded the start. Seeing those jewels silently lined up on the starting grid, each one pristine and identical to how it was back then, was an unforgettable sight to behold. Then, the green flag dropped, the engines ignited, and they were “off!”. It’s almost as if in an instant, the cars of an entire museum shot off into the distance, returning to their original vitality.
