Monte Carlo

Web Site: http://www.acm.mc

The principality of Monaco was one of the circuits that featured on the first FIA World Championship calendar in 1950, the race becoming one of the staples of the championship.

The street circuit is like no other, being tight, twisty and notoriously difficult to pass on. It is the only circuit to feature a tunnel and contains the tightest turns of the season, the teams having to manufacture a steering rack specially for this race. Because the circuit consists entirely of public roads that thread their way through the principality, it has the rare distinction of being almost unchanged since it was first used for racing in the late 1920s.

Because of its unique nature the circuit has the capacity to produce a surprise result; witness the victory of Olivier Panis in 1996 â?? just four cars finished the race and Panis won because he had started with a very full fuel load. Other memorable races include the one from the 1992 season when Nigel Mansell suffered a slow puncture, pitted from the lead and spent the last few laps of the race just inches behind Ayerton Senna, unable to pass.

A lap of the Monaco circuit proceeds as follows:

Crossing the start-finish line at Monaco, you reach 170mph in sixth gear before braking hard as the track inclines for the infamous tight, right of Sainte Devoite, which is taken at 50mph in second gear. Accelerating up the Beau Rivage climb, your speed reaches 170mph in sixth gear as you approach the long left of Massanet, which is negotiated at 85mph in third.

Keeping close to the inside curb through Massanet, you dab the brakes slightly for the bumpy right of Casino Square, which is taken at 80mph, still in third. A burst of acceleration follows, reaching some 130mph in fourth gear on the downhill approach to the bumpy right-hander of Mirabeau. Keeping tight to the right as you reach the hairpin, you shift down through the gears to take Mirabeau at 50mph in second gear.

A spurt of gas takes you to the Grand Hotel Hairpin, the tightest, slowest corner on the circuit, which sees the track continue to plunge downhill and your speed drop to below 30mph in first gear. Two sharp right handers follow both in second gear, with a maximum speed of 55mph, the second of which leads you to the entrance to the Tunnel. Pushing hard on the throttle, you sweep through the covered right-hand curve, reaching the maximum speed on the circuit, 175mph in seventh, as you burst back out into daylight by the sea wall.

Braking hard for the left-right Nouvelle chicane, your speed drops to 30mph, before accelerating out along the run to Tabac. This fast left-hander is taken at 89mph in third. Entering the swimming pool complex, your speed increases to just over 130mph in fourth gear for the first section of the left-right kink, before braking to negotiate the slower, second gear section, at 70mph.

Another short period of acceleration follows as you continue along the harbour front, which sees you reach 120mph in third on the approach to the Rascasse. This sharp, right-hand hairpin, which poses a difficult braking manoeuvre as you swing round 180-degrees on the tight track, is taken at 30mph in first gear. A short uphill straight leads to the final corner, which is taken in second at 45mph, before accelerating up the hill along the pit straight to start another lap.

Lap information courtesy of West McLaren Mercedes.