GRAND PRIX HISTORIQUE DE MONACO 2024

Words Alessandro Marrone / Photos Roberto Marrone

They say some roads never sleep. They know no respite and in the rare moments in which their asphalt is not trampled by some wheel it is as if they rapidly take a breath waiting for a new epic battle. The narrow streets of the Principality of Monaco have thus given life to the fourteenth edition of the Grand Prix Historique, a biennial event that allows pilots, gentlemen drivers and enthusiasts to take a journey back in time to the golden years of Formula 1. A leap into the past that spans almost a century of motoring catalog and which divides pre-war cars into 8 categories, F1 from the mid-50s to ‘85 and a dense representation (38 cars) of sports GTs, because Monaco is not just single-seaters.

And so, from May 10^th to 12^th we came back to breathe and listen to those smells and sounds that awaken the Principality and seem to stop time and drag emotions back to those years when driving a racing car was one of the most dangerous things that could be done. Dangerous, but at the same time fascinating, at least as capable of creating addiction. In those years when racing single-seaters were reduced to the bare bones and where there was nothing other than a small helmet and a pair of very ordinary gloves to divide glory from tragedy, the drivers held their breath from the green light until the waving of the checkered flag. It was only over when it was over.  

The paddock is the antechamber to the big stage. A few centimeters from the luxurious yachts there is an open-air museum, with the difference that the works of art are neatly arranged next to each other awaiting the final calibrations and ready to cross the pit-lane. There are those who have a quick breakfast, those who already have oil on their hands and those who accelerate to the limiter, attracting smartphones and cameras of professionals and media. Cars with iconic liveries and great classics that are usually admired in museums, in a few minutes they will be out there battling it out as if it were a question of life or death.

I move to the pit-lane and after having taken a look at the selection of cars that will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the death of the legendary Ayrton Senna – an unforgettable champion who accomplished legendary feats right here in MonteCarlo – I begin to see some well-known faces: Jacky Ickx, Zak Brown, Adrian Newey (the latter two taking part in the race), Eddie Irvine, but also Fernando Alonso, Leclerc and Lando Norris, without forgetting Patrick Dempsey who laps the circuit at the wheel of a Porsche 911 Carrera RS, between manches.

Friday is the inaugural day, the one dedicated to free practice, but no one spared themselves. Saturday was also spectacular with the official qualifications, but all attention was focused on Sunday, with the races that did not disappoint expectations and actually even surpassed the already spectacular past editions. In current F1, overtaking in Monaco is very difficult. This weekend, every corner is a good opportunity and when on the last lap you spin and lose first place, you remember how much effort is needed to command these powerful cars without any help from the driver and with an extremely precarious grip which entails an absolute attention for the entire duration of the race.

53 brands represented in this edition. A love letter from the Principality to automotive written with tires on asphalt, the same already trodden by Formula E a few days earlier and – just two weeks later – by contemporary F1. But that’s another story, a whole different music. This weekend we may have slowed down lap times a bit, but the roar of the 70s and 80s single-seaters is something that wakes you up at night and makes you wish the next 730 days would pass quickly in view of the fifteenth edition. A la prochaine fois, héros.