Tag: Charles Leclerc

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The ultimate car story: Ferrari Formula One and Monaco

WATCH VIDEO: Valerie Closier of the Prince’s Car Collection on the iconic car exhibit and the evolution of Ferrari’s F1 technology (in French).

Back in 2018, Prince Albert told The Independent newspaper, “It’s true that Ferrari and Monaco are the two most important things to F1.”

Certainly, Charles Leclerc might agree. The first Monegasque to drive for the Prancing Horse told me his first Formula One memory is of playing cars with a friend near the first turn and watching the Grand Prix at the same time. While he never followed one driver in particular, he once confessed: “The red car has always been special to me.”

On May 26, 26-year-old Leclerc will race for Scuderia Ferrari as he tries for the fifth time to become the first Monegasque to win the Monaco Grand Prix since Louis Chiron drove a Bugatti to victory in 1931.

WATCH VIDEO: Egon Zweimüller on Luigi Villoresi and the first Ferrari F1 car in the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix.

For F1 fans who won’t be cheering from the stands, the Prince’s Car Collection is hosting a less ear-impacting event, Ferrari F1 à Monaco: Histoire et Victoires (Ferrari F1 in Monaco: History and Victories). The exhibition, running until August 31, traces the iconic carmaker’s history back to 1950 and includes 12 single-seaters which have won nine titles.

In addition to Leclerc’s SF90 (2019) and Nigel Mansel’s 640 (1989) in the permanent collection, curator Franco Meiners sourced ten F1 Ferraris from the Schlumpf Collection in Mulhouse, and Maranello, where the manufacturer is based in Italy, and a selection from private collectors

From Ferrari’s first win at the Monaco GP in 1955 with Maurice Trintignant’s 625 to their last, with Sebastian Vettel’s car in 2017, history unfolds with Niki Lauda (1976); Jody Scheckter (1979); Gilles Villeneuve (1981) and Michael Schumacher (winning cars in 1997 and 2001).

WATCH VIDEO: Valerie Closier welcomes Prince Albert, Louis Ducruet and minister of state Pierre Dartout at the inauguration on May 9 (in French).

Ferrari F1 à Monaco: Histoire et Victoires begins with Ferrari’s first race car at the Monaco Grand Prix on May 21, 1950. Enzo and Laura Ferrari had put their savings into entering three single-seaters that year with drivers Alberto Ascari (he placed second), Raymond Sommer and Luigi Villoresi.

Luigi Villoresi’s 125 was the first F1 Ferrari to be built and the only one of the three entered in the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix to have kept its initial configuration, the other two having been reworked.

Egon Zweimüller brought the Villoresi vehicle to Monaco. Zweimüller, whose family-run restauration business in Ennsdorf is one of the best in the biz, explained that the Ferrari red car was painted green when it was bought by a British driver. And at one point, it even had a gold nose when it was based in Australia.

Ferrari F1 in Monaco: History and Victories runs until August 31. The Prince’s Car Collection (54 route de la Piscine) is open daily July 1 to August 31: 10am-6pm (July & August 7pm). Tickets €10/adult and €5/ages 6-17.

Article first published May 11, 2024. Images and videos copyright Good News Monaco.

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Historic Grand Prix

Sir Stirling Moss on the 60th anniversary of his 1956 Monaco GP win. Photo: Nancy Heslin

On May 13, 2016, I had the privilege of meeting Formula One legend Sir Stirling Moss, who was being honoured at the Historic Grand Prix in Monaco.

It had been 60 years to the day that the British driver had won the 1956 Monaco Grand Prix for the Officine Alfieri Maserati team. As the 86-year-old sat on the front wheel of car #28 in front of the Rascasse turn, you could see a twinkle in his eye reliving the 3-hour race. (The car, he said, cost him £3,800. “Maybe I should have held on to it.”).

“It is extremely difficult to concentrate for three hours. I’d see the driver behind me, and every lap, I’d say to myself, ‘I’m going to try to do a perfect lap,’ which of course is not possible.”

He added that “from the driver’s point of view, there is not much change at all [in Monaco]. There are so many places you can see the drivers ahead or behind you on the hairpins, so I’d wave at the other drivers to try and make it look like I wasn’t trying too hard while I was actually clenched on the ground.”

Sir Stirling commented on being forced into retirement at the age of 83 but his charm shined through. “Monaco is such an intimate course. Every lap I’d blow a kiss to this woman with the pale pink lipstick … it never went anywhere though …”

Between 1955 and 1961, the late Sir Stirling finished as championship runner-up four times and in third place the other three times. “I would not swap my era for now. I had the pleasure of 600 races because I loved doing it. There’s no pleasure, exhilaration or fun nowadays. Driver input those days was more by the driver.”

Typically held every other year two weeks before the Monaco Grand Prix (except this edition as the 2020 event was cancelled for reasons you are well aware of and the E-Prix is on May 8), this is an open-air museum of legendary cars racing the same F1 circuit. You don’t have to love race cars to appreciate the spirit and energy of the Grand Prix Historique de Monaco weekend.

Much like the nod to Sir Stirling in 2016, this year’s 12th edition celebrates Ferrari’s first Grand Prix victory 70 years ago in 1951 with driver Jose Froilan Gonzalez at Silverstone. Keep an eye out for the many Scuderia F1 sports cars, one dating back to 1929.

By the way, Charles Leclerc is the first Monegasque driver to ever sign a deal with Ferrari and the 23-year-old recently gifted his first season SF90 race car to Prince Albert for HSH’s private car collection museum in Fontvieille. On May 23, Leclerc hopes to become the first native to win the Monaco Grand Prix since Louis Chiron drove a Bugatti to victory in 1931.

To watch the Monaco Historic Grand Prix race live on Sunday April 25: