Monte Carlo comes from the Latin for ‘no overtaking’.
Monaco is more wealthy than the rest of Europe put together. As a result, it is the world’s heaviest place.
If a bomb went off in Monaco harbour during the Grand Prix, it is estimated that we would lose 86 percent of the world’s supply of men who look like George Hamilton.
The price of a gin & tonic in Monaco is actually as a reference point on the international currency market. At the time of writing, 1 MG&T = 457 USD.
Monaco has long been the home of choice for any F1 driver who would rather live in what looks like a well-kept block of council flats than pay any tax.
One of the most infamous ex-F1 drivers to live in the area is Taki Inoue who is regularly spotted attempting to cross Casino Square only to get hit by a passing car causing him to roll over its bonnet in an amusing way.
Since many current F1 drivers live in Monaco they probably know some backstreet shortcuts to improve their times. One of the drivers who lives in the principality is Lewis Hamilton who has an apartment in Le Maison de Beaucoup D’Argent building on the harbour or, as he insists on calling it, ‘The projects of the southside, yea. Wicked’.
Uniquely in the F1 calendar, trophy giving at the Monaco race takes place on a set of steps. This is because in 1874 the short-lived Prince Malheureusement III declared podiums illegal.At the same time, he outlawed rotating flags but sadly failed to draw up a law forbidding slightly awkward interviews with three Formula 1 drivers.
