Like riding a bike in your living room, is how three-time F1 World Champion Nelson Piquet described the experience of navigating a Formula 1 car around the famous Monaco GP circuit. And some similar analogies must strike the charter captains negotiating the throng of yachts arriving for the Grand Prix weekend, even though they are only at displacement speed. The Monaco GP attracts a global TV audience, but the weekend is just as important for the superyacht industry, with charter yachts in great demand, each and every berth taken, and the social side of the event providing an excellent opportunity for contacts to be made and deals to be done.
We were lucky enough to be carrying an all-areas pass for the weekend, which meant we could get a close-up view of the race as it came together. The F1 teams had set up shop in what are beautifully engineered trailers with drop-out sides, extendable walls, and entrance halls hidden behind tinted windows and thick glass doors, all of which is polished to a mirror finish. Team principals and mechanics were buzzing around, and soon drivers made an appearance as they got ready for the weekend’s action – Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton all took a quick stroll around the pit area.
The pit lane soon took on the shape that we have become so familiar with – a series of compact garages and each one with everything in its place. The IT requirements are demanding for a race of this magnitude – everyone has a laptop, and everyone is keen to get their hands on the key data as soon as possible. Hardly an hour after coming to life, the pit area was a sea of faces deep in screens. This is certainly an area that really matters in the whole scheme of things these days. Get every nut, bolt, screw and computer read-out right here and you may give yourself the best chance of keeping the car mechanically together long enough to get some World Championship points.
The pilots just have to drive fast and keep it all in one piece – that looks a whole lot easier than analysing the pages of data. The balletic practice of tyre changing by the mechanics was very enjoyable to watch. Lots of hands, bodies, tyres and high-speed airguns coming together in the blink of an eye. Some of the cars were at the ‘Meccano’ stage – a hi-tech skeleton, lots of bits of metal and nose-cones, all precariously balanced on other bits of lightweight metal. It wouldn’t be too long before the jigsaw puzzle of a car would be hugging the tarmac and cornering at gravity-defying speeds.
The 2014 F1 Grand Prix was going to be a very different watch compared with the Grand Prix Historique held just two weeks earlier. The most striking thing was that noise – Formula 1 cars are much quieter this season as the new engine regulations have come into force. During the Historique event, the cars from before World War II through to the late 1970s were taking on the course in their cylinder-crunching pomp. Even with a good pair of ear defenders, one’s eardrums vibrated painfully, if evocatively. Rather than helicopter pilot ear-defenders, a pair of bog standard earplugs would be adequate noise reducers for the GP. Many of the F1 purists have voiced their concern about this year’s ‘hissy’ higher pitched engine sound. The bone-vibrating thunder emitted by the cars of yesteryear was missed.
The spot at the chicane was pretty good. As the cars whizzed past, you could clearly see a line of yachts stretching from the chicane, down and around Tabac corner. Most of the yachts had been chartered for the F1 week, and I noticed one that had been in the same spot at the Historique. So, a period of four weeks with a different party, or the same lucky ‘petrol head’ guests? One thing is certain – whether you have been invited on board just for the day or you are lucky enough to spend a week on board, you are well looked after.
Charter houses like YPI, Burgess and Edmiston have all worked hard for months in order to deliver the ultimate package for their race-going clients. For some guests this is their first taste of the superyacht life and a number book future charters as a result of this entrée.
The race itself? First, second and third on the starting grid finished first, second and third in the race. This isn’t a surprise for the narrow street circuit, but the race is only one element of the weekend experience. It was thought provoking to be able to walk the famous race course during our visit to the modern race and compare it with the Historique. I couldn’t help but think back to the straw-bail crash barriers and polo hats to protect the driver’s heads of those early days. We can still hear the voices from the past – Fangio winning Monaco in his Maserati in 1957, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart and James Hunt. Today’s racers are higher tech and higher speed too, but this remains an iconic sporting occasion, and the best way to experience the weekend from your yacht.
Words & Pictures by Mike Edwardson
