Monaco Grand Prix

The Monaco GP is my favourite race to photograph, hands down! From your point of view though, you won’t be attending this race for the racing as it’s nigh on impossible to overtake on the tight and twisty street circuit. BUT, in terms of a spectacle, this is the pinnacle.

The weather is normally glorious and the harbour is packed full of expensive yachts. This draws a monied crowd of business heavyweights, glamourous women, stars, social climbers and motorsport lovers.

Just about every boat has a party on board and you can even purchase tickets to these functions via the likes of F1 Experiences.

Accommodation-wise, expect to pay 4 – 10 times the normal rate to stay at a Monaco hotel over the race weekend that’s if you can score a room at all. Most fans stay in the small towns along the coast and train in each day. Nice is a popular spot to stay and if you have the funds, you can take a helicopter transfer to and from the track.

Like many cities, over the race weekend, Monaco restaurants wheel out their special “Grand Prix menus”; jacking up prices by a factor of plenty or imposing skyhigh minimum spends per head, but there are always fans happy to pay the price to dine in this most elite of F1 cities.

This event used to see Media Day on the Wednesday with FP1 and 2 on the Thursday before having Friday off. But F1 changed that a few years ago and it now falls in line with the standard Thursday-Sunday schedule run at most races.

There are numerous rooftop functions over the race weekend that provide you with a birds-eye view of the harbour and track and include food and beverages. These will be expensive and exclusive. If you’re thinking about seats in a grandstand I would recommend grandstand T as it provides with views of 2 sections of the track, one of them being pit lane.

If you’re on a shoestring budget, grab yourself a “La Rocher” ticket for €100. This is the steep hill near La Rascasse. There is no seating, you will have to bring that yourself and the earlier you arrive, the better the view you will secure. Note that it is packed on race day, can be tricky to move around and it’s steep but it does offer an elevated and picturesque view of F1’s jewel in the crown.