Upcoming Events
Few days before the 12nd edition of the Monaco Grand Prix Historic (April, 23-25 2021), the Automobile Club de Monaco gives you the possibility to take back in the unique atmosphere of this event.
A 23-minute celebration programme realized in 2020 and dedicated to all these special people who combine to make the ‘Grand Prix de Monaco Historique’.
This Friday, February 26, the Formula E makes its big comeback with the start of season 7. Two rounds are scheduled in Diriyah (Saudi Arabia), marking the launch of the series as the FIA World Championship.
Today, by obtaining this status, it is a real step forward for Formula E becoming the second World Single Seater Championship, especially for the drivers and their teams who will be able to fight to be crowned «Formula E World Champions».
The previous season was marked by the title of António Félix da Costa with the greatest margin in Formula E history, 71 points separating him from Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ). Nevertheless, the pre-season test in Valencia in November saw the German Maximilian Günther (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) set the tone for the season start.
In 2021, the new season brings new faces, regulation updates and strong involvement. With 12 teams and 24 drivers from 9 represented, Formula E has a true international grid.
On the calendar, 8 races are scheduled from February to June (see calendar below).
The Principality of Monaco will host the 5th round of the season on Saturday 08 May 2021.
Start in Diriyah
As usual, the Riyadh Street Circuit will offer spectacular scenery as Formula E hosts its first night races. The fast 2.49 km circuit runs alongside the magnificent UNESCO World Heritage Site At-Turaif.
The Diriyah E-Prix will therefore be the first night race in the history of Formula E. It required a great organization and many months of preparation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports of the Kingdom (MOS) to create a sustainable night race.
In order to do this, a team has been on-site since December to install the latest LED technology: 600 projectors around the circuit, reducing energy consumption by half compared to a technology that is not LED. This represents a great advance in the world of Formula E but also of sustainable development, hoping that this season is up to our expectations.
Where to watch?
There are more ways to watch Formula E this season:
Since the 2018 edition, being fully aware of its responsibility to add to the value of an important asset of international automobile heritage, the Organizing Committee and the Commission of Vintage Cars at Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) have decided to modify the essence of their meeting by putting Formula 1 on top of the list. This is why, in 2021, in the authentic and magical setup of the Principality’s track, the 12th Grand Prix de Monaco Historique will remain faithful to this commitment by celebrating, among other things, the first win for Ferrari in the Formula 1 World Championship …
The 2020 edition, in line with this goal, was meant to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the creation of the World Formula 1 Championship. However, the Covid-19 pandemic forced ACM to cancel the event. But it has not decimated the current field of amazing vintage F1 cars and 2021 will allow amateurs of the category which represents the pinnacle of motorsport to race for real.
Despite all current sanitary protocols, 170 competitors have entered the event! And every series will have everything in stock to please the passionate as well as the connoisseur fans! There will be a fight between “voiturettes” in the heat of the A Series, 4 iconic Maserati 250F models facing a great diversity of single-seaters with front engines (B Series), the richness of the C Series (Sports Cars) and the D Series (F1s from the 60s). One third of the E Series will be made of cars powered by 12-cylinder engines (Ferrari, Matra and BRM), in addition to the F Series with three former Grand Prix drivers and a multiple winner of Le Mans 24 Hours. Last but not least, the G Series will host more recent F1s of a great variety of colours …
The diversity and richness of the fields will allow to celebrate the greatness of the Ferrari brand, and in particular its very first win in the Formula 1 World Championship, by Argentine’s Froilan Gonzales in 1951 on the Silverstone track.
Six models that belong to the legend of motorsport will be visible and active on the mythical Monaco track:
For this selection of amazing cars, as well as for the rest of the field, the main factors which presided to the choice of cars accepted by ACM are absolute rarity and a sense of the very exceptional. The spectators will then be able to watch 7 races involving 170 legendary cars, all of them in a perfect and unique state of conservation.
During two and a half days, competitors will share their passion for competition at the highest level of motorsport, in real races, surrounded with the sound and smell which characterize their cars, confronted to their rivals at that time. The track, set in the heart of the Principality of Monaco, is still 80% the same as the track in 1929. It is still used today for the Formula 1 World Championship…
The Monte-Carlo Rally leader and defending World Champion, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota), decided to be the fastest this morning in Stage 12, between Puget-Théniers and La Penne (12.93km), so that his rivals understand early enough that he intends to set a new record of 8 wins in the most mythical of all WRC events. Equipped with studded tires on a snowless road filled with black ice patches in most of the corners, he could not trust his gravel crew because their info was outdated: “The conditions have changed a lot since the gravel crew passed earlier this morning, so we cannot use their info…”, Ogier smiled at the end of this stage last used in the 80s by scary Group B cars. He had just managed to be 7 tenths of a second quicker than Neuville, who took a chance this morning by taking 2 Super Soft tyres instead of two extra studded Pirelli tyres. But this was not enough to counter Ogier’s huge experience in this rally. “Super SebO” is now 21 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans, who lost 7 more seconds on his French team-mate, and Neuville is now 3rd overall, over one minute back, thanks to a puncture for young Finn Kalle Rovanperä, who lost over 50 seconds in that stage. There are three stages left, 40 km including the Power Stage. The boss is in control…
As in the first pass earlier this morning (SS12), Monte-Carlo Rally leader Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) clocked the best time in Stage 14 between Puget-Théniers and La Penne (12,93 km), improving his time by five seconds only on a less slippery road. He just needs to manage safely the last 15 km of the Power Stage (SS15) and he will win his favourite rally for the 8th time in his career, setting a new record ahead of former arch-rival Sébastien Loeb. His Welsh team-mate, Elfyn Evans, has given up on putting pressure on the 7-time World Champion, just like Thierry Neuville. The Belgian driver is ready to bring back a good stock of points for Hyundai, which will be added to Dani Sordo’s points for 5th, at the end of a disappointing rally for the Korean firm. Ogier now holds a 28-second safety net over Evans, 1 min 08 on Neuville, 2 min 30 on young Finn Kalle Rovanperä in the third works Yaris, 2 min 52 on Sordo and 6 min 24 on Japanese hopeful Takamoto Katsuta, 6th and very happy of his intensive learning week-end in the French Alps.
Sébastien Ogier (Toyota), the 7-time World Champion, has started in ideal conditions his quest for an 8th world title before retiring from WRC at the end of 2021. The Frenchman is now an 8-time winner of the Monte-Carlo Rally, with the efficient help of his faithful co-driver, Julien Ingrassia. And he took great care to do finish in style, by winning the 5 bonus points of the Power Stage (SS15), although he did not need to, after winning 8 special stages this week-end.
Ogier also brings Toyota its first win in Monaco since Carlos Sainz in 1998. He will start the Arctic Rally with 30 championship points in the pocket of his race overalls, and in a Yaris that he enjoyed driving a lot on the tricky roads between Gap and Monaco. He said it in the village of Entrevaux, at the finish line of this 89th edition of a 110-year-old rally, the oldest and most prestigious on the WRC calendar.
This is also Ogier’s 50th win in WRC since the very first one in Portugal, in 2010. And it is the best way to start what should be his last full season in WRC. “It was a good decision to start again for one last season with Toyota”, Ogier said before climbing on his 85th WRC podium (in 157 events). He also insisted on his pleasure driving the new Yaris WRC all week-end, and welcomed his new boss at Toyota Gazoo WRT, Jari-Matti Latvala, who was his loyal team-mate during his Volkswagen years.
Last but not least, Ogier is now the one and only rally driver who won the Monte-Carlo Rally for five different car manufacturers: Peugeot in 2009, when he won an IRC-sanctioned event in a 207 S2000, in a year when the world’s oldest and most prestigious rally was not included in the WRC calendar; then Volkswagen (2014 to 2016), Ford (2017 and 2018), Citroën (2019) and Toyota (2021). This is one better than Walter Röhrl, the Monte-Carlo winner for four different car brands, in the last century. An authentic legend of world rallying. Just like Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Loeb… and Sébastien Ogier.
Power Stage (ES15) :
1. Ogier, 2. Rovanperä, 3. Evans, 4. Neuville, 5. Sordo
The President of the Automobile Club de Monaco, Me Michel Boeri, accompanied by Christian Tornatore, General Commissioner of the ACM and Monte-Carlo Rally Director, were rewareded by Mr. Jona Siebel, Director General of the WRC Promoter, the perseverance trophy on this Sunday, January 24, date of the 89th Monte-Carlo Rally arrival in Monaco.
A special prize intended to reward the ACM for the diligence of its organization, specialy this year in a specific context of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), the winner last year, was very fast in Stage 10 and clocked his first best time of the 89th Monte-Carlo Rally, 110th Anniversary Edition. Even more interesting, he did it in style, reducing his gap on leader Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) by 42 seconds in the space of 20.48km, between Saint-Clément and Freissinières. At the time he passed on this road, a few minutes before Ogier, Neuville could enjoy winter conditions to the full and the studs of his Pirelli Sottozero winter tyres were efficient. A few minutes later, the sun was up, the snow and ice were melting, so Ogier’s studs were totally useless, and the same for Evans one minute later on the road. The Welshman also stalled in a hairpin, losing four more seconds on Ogier, and the Frenchman is still in the lead, but he was slightly worried at the end of the stage. Another Frenchman, youngster Pierre-Louis Loubet (Hyundai), for his first ever Monte-Carlo Rally, benefitted from this quick change of conditions and posted the 2nd best time of this SS10, thanks to the fact that was opening the road after crashing in SS7 on Friday. With one more stage to go on Saturday, Ogier now enjoys a 14-second advantage on Evans and the fight is still on, more than ever, for the last podium spot between Kalle Rovanperä, 3rd in the other Toyota, but 50 seconds behind Ogier, and Neuville, 1.4 second only behind the young Finn. Last but not least, the nightmare continues for Ott Tänak, who started the day in 3rd place. He had another puncture in SS10 and then finished a second consecutive stage on the rim. He is now 14th and almost 10 minutes behind Ogier. Game over, or almost.
Elfyn Evans (Toyota) posted the last best time of Saturday, in Stage 11, by going 1.3 second faster than Sébastien Ogier between La Bréole and Selonnet (20,48 km). He could then hit the road for Monaco in a much better mood, as the last credible rival for his team-mate. « I needed this one », Evans said on the finish line, « because I did not feel good this morning. I will try to keep on putting pressure on Seb », he added after only his second stage win of this rally. It happened on the very same road where Ogier hammered him early this morning, in Stage 9. The gap between the Toyota drivers, in favour of Ogier, was of 17 seconds, around 7 am. « The conditions have changed a lot since this morning », Ogier noted, but the 7-time World Champion was happy that he had completed a « clean stage » to end the day safely. He will start Sunday with a 13-second advantage on Evans but anything can happen on a last morning at Monte-Carlo Rally, especially if the stops are only meant to fill the tank and change the tyres. One minute behind Ogier and Evans, the last available spot on Sunday’s podium will be fought between 20-year-old Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) and 5-time vice-champion Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), the winner last year in Monaco. Ott Tänak will not be around since he retired on Saturday after finishing two stages on the rim, following consecutive punctures in SS9 and 10. In FIA WRC2, Andreas Mikkelsen, the former works driver for VW and Hyundai, holds a 2-minute advantage over Adrien Fourmaux. In FIA WRC3, a French treble is still a possibility, thanks to Yohan Rossel, Yoann Bonato and Nicolas Ciamin.
