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Monaco, F-1's glitziest race, draws celebrities and sports fans
Formula One cars will zoom past Gucci and Prada stores, a casino and a yacht-filled harbor on Sunday. The drivers won't be the only people attracting attention: The Monaco Grand Prix is a magnet for celebrities.
Hollywood stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston will be among the spectators at the sport's only urban street race, the glitziest of the season's 18 events. Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich will be there, too. ``It's one of the world's three biggest motor races, along with the Indianapolis 500 and the Le Mans 24-hour race,'' Tony Jardine, former assistant manager of the McLaren team and an analyst for U.K. broadcaster ITV Plc, said in an interview. ``It's the place to be seen.'' First run in 1929, the race has attracted more than 200,000 people annually for more than a decade to the square-mile Mediterranean principality, ruled by the Grimaldi family since the 13th century. Some 80 percent of Monaco's 30,000 residents are wealthy foreigners attracted by its low taxes, with social charges 20 percentage points less than France's. Residents include F-1 drivers David Coulthard of McLaren, who owns the $300- a-night Columbus Hotel, and Jenson Button of BAR-Honda. Clooney, 43, will promote the Warner Bros. movie Ocean's 12 with co-stars Pitt and Aniston. The livery of Ford Motor Co.'s Jaguar team cars will publicize the film, and a 108-carat diamond will be set within the nose cone of the car to advertise Steinmetz Diamond Group, which cut the world's largest diamond, the 203-carat Millennium Star, for De Beers. Prestige Factor The prestige and wealth surrounding the race enable organizers to negotiate the best terms with the sport's billionaire rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone, and Monaco is one of the few races to post a profit, race organizers said. The 18 events pay Ecclestone's Formula One Management at least $12 million to host a race. While most rely on ticket sales for a return, race organizer the Automobile Club de Monaco retains the rights to trackside advertising and corporate hospitality. The race boosts the region's economy by $70 million, Monaco's finance ministry said. Less prestigious events such as the San Marino and British Grands Prix are struggling to finance circuit upgrades required by Ecclestone to stay on the calendar of the most-watched motor sport. Countries including Turkey, India and Mexico are in talks with Ecclestone, 73, to replace them. They want to host races, which gain as many as 162 million TV viewers, to bolster tourism. The dominance of Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari team isn't helping European race organizers. The 120,000 attendance for last month's race at Imola, Italy, was 60,000 less than four years ago. `Lose Money' ``Most of the Grands Prix lose money,'' Jackie Stewart, president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, which owns Silverstone, said in an interview. ``The commercial rights-holder gets most of the revenue.'' Schumacher won a record sixth title last year, surpassing Juan Manuel Fangio's 1950s mark, even after ruling body the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile tinkered with qualifying and other rules to pare his and Ferrari's advantage. Schumacher, 35, will this weekend seek to become the first driver to win the first six races of the season and beat Nigel Mansell's 1992 record. The German is also seeking a sixth win at Monaco, and his first there since 2001. Even in Germany, not everyone is cheering for the champion. ``The problem isn't that Schumacher is winning but that he's winning so easily,'' said Walter Kafitz, managing director of the Nurburgring, Germany, which hosts the European Grand Prix on May 30. ``Formula One has gone out of fashion.'' Schumacher Dominant Schumacher, who leads teammate Rubens Barrichello by 18 points in the championship, qualified in pole position for four of the first five races. If he does so again in Monaco, passing him will be harder because of the circuit's narrowness: Five of the last seven race winners started on the front row of the grid. ``Overtaking is nearly impossible here,'' said Willy Rampf, technical director of the Sauber team. Monaco is a leading event for corporate entertainers such as cigarette-maker Philip Morris, because Monte Carlo is more of a draw than the French Grand Prix, near the provincial town of Magny-Cours. ``If you're a sponsor, you have your wife with you and she doesn't like Formula One, where is the better shopping -- in Monaco or Magny-Cours?'' said Patrick Mannoury, an Automobile Club spokesman. ``The great sponsorship deals are signed in Monaco.'' Tourist Shopping Monaco is allowed to hold team practice a day early, so tourists can shop on the Friday. Corporate hospitality sales help Monaco to make a profit, Mannoury said, without giving figures. Additional investment has also helped, the principality said in an e-mailed statement. Monaco spent 30 million euros ($35 million) on widening the harbor esplanade for a new 6,000-seat grandstand before Sunday's race. Temporary stands will hold 35,000 people, with others watching from vantage points including a hill, apartment balconies and rooftops. The month-long building to get the two-mile circuit and stands ready every year is worth it, ITV analyst Jardine said. ``The sport needs Monaco more than other races,'' he said. ``It's the jewel in the crown for Formula One.'' |
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