Tag: Monaco Grand Prix

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Speed Queen Kart Trophy

Start your engines – this International Women’s Day, Monaco is celebrating girl power at full throttle.

On March 8, Box 98 Monaco at Les Terrasses de Fontvieille will host the very first Speed Queen Kart Trophy, a feel-good, all-female amateur race designed to bring women and girls – from age seven upwards – together for a day of speed, sisterhood and a little friendly competition.

In a country synonymous with the glamour of the Monaco Grand Prix, motorsport is part of the DNA. But while the drivers’ grid has historically skewed male, the fanbase is shifting fast. According to Formula One, 42% of F1 fans worldwide are women – with the fastest-growing demographic aged 18 to 24. The message is clear: women aren’t just watching from the stands, they’re ready to take the wheel.

The Speed Queen Kart Trophy taps into that momentum with a day that blends competition,  and celebration. Racers will battle it out for the fastest lap between 10 am and 2 pm followed by the Grand Final at 3 pm, when the fastest stars from every category go wheel-to-wheel hoping to win the coveted Speed Queen Trophy.

Drivers Ella Häkkinen, Vicky Farfus and Lina Salamanca will be on hand to share their passion and expertise, offering tips on kart driving technique and talking about their future projects and ambitions.

Monaco resident Ella (below) is the youngest female member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, the result of major European karting victories.

Vicky (above), also a Monaco resident, is competing with Iron Dames and finished P4 in the FIA World Karting Cup 2025. She became the first girl in history to finish in the top five of a FIA karting race, among nearly 90 drivers from around the world.

Lina (below) is the winner of the prestigious Volant Jules Bianchi, an emerging talent driven by strong ambition.

The trio will also be alongside event organiser Tiffaney Perlino, president of the Women in Motorsport Commission at the Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM), at the prize giving to present trophies, which are offered by the ACM.

“I have always loved motorsport and loved driving but like many women I never really had the opportunity to race,” says Tiffaney. “It wasn’t just about opportunity to be honest. It was also that I didn’t dare. It all looked so out of my comfort zone.”

That all changed for Tiffaney when years ago a girlfriend had a joint birthday party with her husband at a karting track. She decided to get behind the wheel and give it a go – and had the time of her life. “It gave me the confidence to try other motorsport activities and I haven’t looked back. I wanted the chance to give the same opportunity to other girls and women, who are hesitant, to try racing in a relaxed and friendly environment.”

Registration for the Speed Queen Kart Trophy (€27 adult; €25 under-18) at Box 98 includes 8 minutes of track time plus a light lunch and refreshments at the Paddock Bar courtesy of the ACM. Whether you sign up solo or with your daughter and her friends – or make it a family affair cheering from the sidelines at no cost – it’s a high-energy and highly memorable way to mark International Women’s Day together, swapping the usual panel discussions and ladies lunch for helmets and horsepower, and the next-generation.

“This event is about showing that motorsport is more than just Formula 1 and Netflix. It’s about participation, inclusion and representation. There are countless ways to be part of the sport – whether you’re in the driver’s seat or working behind the scenes, whether you’re a boy or a girl. Motorsport belongs to everyone … and its fun!”

For more information, contact comfemsport@acm.mc.

Article first published March 1, 2026. Photos: feature Instagram f1drivelondon. Instagram Ella Häkkinen. InstagramVicky Farfus. Instagram Lina Salamanca.

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Valtteri Bottas and the Monaco Grand Prix ocean conservation helmet

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, with his Monaco-edition ocean helmet.

Formula One’s Valtteri Bottas debuted a new ocean conservation-themed helmet yesterday ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. The driver for Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber wants to highlight ocean conservation in the Mediterranean and the work of the Blue Marine Foundation and the Prince Albert Foundation.

“This helmet isn’t just about making a statement on the track; it’s about driving change and raising awareness and funds to preserve our precious marine ecosystems,” Bottas comments.

Designed by Bottas’ partner, professional road and gravel cyclist Tiffany Cromwell, the helmet draws attention to the Mediterranean’s fragile ecosystem and the urgency of preserving and restoring the sea’s biodiversity. “We hear about the Great Barrier Reef, and Indochina, and all these other incredible reef systems around the world, but we need more education about the Mediterranean.”

In addition to under-water images of monk seals, dolphins and sharks, the base of the helmet is decorated with Posidonia seagrass, “representing how seagrass is the lungs of the ocean, and that without it, marine ecosystems would collapse.” 

Bottas says, “I love to wear bespoke racing helmets whenever I can.” Autographed by the F1 driver and Prince Albert, the helmet will be auctioned at the annual Blue Marine Yacht Club Auction on September 25 during the Monaco Yacht Show. Proceeds will be equally distributed between the two Foundations to support their projects in the Mediterranean, in particular the seagrass restoration initiative.

“It is through strong institutional partnerships, such as the one between my Foundation and the Blue Marine Foundation that we can fight against climate change and manage our natural resources responsibly,” says Prince Albert, whose Foundation has given out more than €110 million to fund some 780 projects that focus on “limiting the effects of climate change, promoting renewable energies, protecting the ocean, preserving biodiversity, managing water resources and combating deforestation.”

Blue Marine is a UK ocean conservation charity set up in 2010 by some of the team behind the award-winning documentary film The End of the Line. Its mission is to see 30 per cent of the world’s ocean under effective protection by 2030 and the other 70 per cent responsibly managed.

For CEO Clare Brook, “The Mediterranean Sea was once full of incredible life, but has been severely depleted in the last hundred years. We are now at a pivotal moment where countries around the Mediterranean realise the importance of reviving these vital waters and are making concerted efforts to protect them.”

Spanning more than 2.5 million square kilometres and encompassing the coastal areas and territorial waters of at least 20 countries, the Mediterranean provides vital ecosystem services to nearly half a billion people, including food provision, climate regulation, and cultural sustenance.

Yet it faces the ‘triple-threat” of overfishing, climate change, and land-based impacts and is on the verge of ecological collapse. According to Blue Marine, “The Mediterranean hosts 17,000 marine species, 20-30% of which are endemic — the highest rate of endemism in the world. Over three-quarters of its fish stocks are fished beyond sustainable limits, and climate change is heating the Mediterranean 20% faster than other marine ecosystems.”

Article first published May 24, 2024. All photos: Andy Hone from LAT Images.

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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.