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 Ask the Canadian for an assessment of Formula One's showcase race, a
grand prix synonymous with all that is most glamorous and glitzy
about the world's fastest sport, and he wastes no time in replying.
"Monaco is Hell," says the 1997 world champion.
Villeneuve, who lives in Monaco but never won the most historic of
street races although his late father Gilles did with Ferrari in
1981, clearly has a love-hate relationship with the place.
"The driving is amazing, it’s the weekend that’s a pain," says the
driver, who won his title with Williams and retired from the sport
in 2006 after a long and lucrative spell with uncompetitive BAR.
"You can’t sleep at night because there’s music everywhere until six
in the morning," he told Reuters.
"It’s hell to work, so that’s the part that’s not likeable because
it’s not the good old days where you went to a gala the night before
and got drunk and raced anyway. So Monaco is hell. But the driving
is so much fun. It’s so extreme, there’s no margin for error. It’s
great.
"It’s not like all these modern tracks where you can see that it’s a
piece of cardboard that’s been taken, put there and it’s got the
perfect angle," he added.
Monaco's more discreet and well-heeled residents would surely agree
about the noise.
For one week every year, the usually tranquil Mediterranean
playground, with more millionaires per meter than anywhere else in
the world, becomes a raucous and crammed party central for
petrolheads.
Never mind the music reverberating across the water from the yacht
parties. The streets throb with sound systems from pavement bars
while passing supercars rev their engines as they crawl through the
crowds.
Those drivers who live in the tiny principality, and they are in a
majority, return home with relief between far-flung races knowing
they can live a normal life without intrusion.
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If some of that goes out of the window during the grand prix
weekend, there are ways of coping and compensations in waking up at
home.
"Outside the track it is tougher than other races but in the car
it's the best of the year because the track is so exciting," agrees
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who grew up in Monaco and has won for
the past two years.
"It makes it very intense. But being local I know the secret ways if
I want to avoid people," added the German, whose champion father
Keke won in 1983.
World champion Lewis Hamilton, who now enjoys a jet-setting
lifestyle after an under-privileged upbringing in England, is
another big fan.
"It’s Monaco, I live here, it’s one of my favorite places in the
world to go. The track is incredible," said the Mercedes driver, who
leads Rosberg by 20 points after five races.
"It’s the one track we have which is special on another level and it
generally always turns out to be one of the most amazing weekends of
the year," he told reporters. "Not only for us but for people who
get to come and enjoy the weekend.
"I’ve been here the last two weeks. When I wake up and I go out onto
my balcony and look over Monaco, I think ‘this is just crazy’."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Justin Palmer)
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