The early years of F1 witnessed revolutionary changes in racing technology, in an era in which drivers competed for sport, not money, and routinely perished in sometimes horrific crashes. The names from these days — Ascari, Fangio and Moss, to list a few — live on today as Grand Prix legends.

The Early Years


Motor racing after World War II initiated a new formula — originally called Formula A but soon to be known as Formula 1 — for cars of 1,500 cc supercharged and 4,500 cc unsupercharged. The minimum race distance was reduced from 500 km (311 miles) to 300 km (186 miles), allowing the Monaco Grand Prix to be re-introduced after a two-year interval in 1950. The FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) announced plans for a World Championship at a meeting held that year. On 10 April 1950, Juan Manuel Fangio, in a Maserati, won the Pau Grand Prix, the first contest to be labeled an "International Formula One" race. A month later Silverstone hosted the British Grand Prix, the first sanctioned championship race for Formula One Grand Prix cars, and the F1 World Championship was born!

Fangio's Maserati, here competing in the 1950 Pau Grand Prix - the first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix

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Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso led the Monaco Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday to hand Renault their fifth victory in seven races.


The win, with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher starting in the pit lane after being stripped of pole for deliberately obstructing rivals in qualifying, stretched the Spaniard's overall lead to 21 points.


It was the 12th win of the 24-year-old's career, his first in Monaco and fourth of the season. He has 64 points to Schumacher's 43, with the German fighting back from last place to fifth.


Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, the 2003 winner for Williams, finished second in his McLaren team's 40th anniversary race with Briton David Coulthard taking Ferrari-powered Red Bull's first podium finish in third place.


It was the two times Monaco winner's first top three finish since Japan 2003 with McLaren.


The Scot's joy was Italian Jarno Trulli's despair, with the Toyota driver in third place and heading for his first points of the season until he pulled over with five laps remaining.

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Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli know all about the perils of the Monaco street circuit. Last year Ralf hit the barrier during qualifying whilst Jarno’s ambitions overtaking manoeuvre cost him any chance of points. With the new rules mixed in for 2006, both drivers are expecting a tough weekend.


Ralf Schumacher has enjoyed many successes over the years on the narrow street circuit, as well as many lows including a number of accidents and missed opportunities.

“I have always been quick there and I've taken pole position and a podium in the past. Last year I made the points and we will hope for more this weekend.” Nevertheless Ralf is pleased to be back in Monaco. "From a driving point of view it's great to drive at Monaco and a challenge to be quicker than everyone else round the narrow streets.”

Ralf also pointed out the perils of the Monaco circuit as well as reminding us that anything can happen from qualifying to race.

“The barriers are closer than anywhere so you need to adapt your approach slightly. But that is something we have all got used to down the years. The first challenge is to secure a good place on the grid and then to try and finish the race without mishap.”

Tyres will once again be an important factor this weekend, with the TF106B also making its debut, Ralf is hoping for a positive weekend.

"Tyre choice is always tricky because the track changes so much during the weekend. But if you have a driveable car here it's fun so I'll be looking forward to trying out our new TF106B."

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The two-week gap between the Spanish and Monaco Grand Prix has been a relatively quiet one with the majority of teams taking the time to conduct some tests ahead of a gruelling European summer of racing.


Nonetheless, the driver merry-go-round continues unabated with the pendulum swinging towards Valentino Rossi once again, the Italian having been linked to a seat in the Ferrari-powered Red Bull before confirming a week later that he is not ready to join Formula One as soon as 2007.


His elimination from the rush for the remaining seats means that once again attention has turned to Ferrari and whether they have signed Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen for 2007, or whether the German will decide to retire, or indeed whether Raikkonen is even joining the Italian team. While they admit the decisions will be made in the coming weeks, no announcement is due until the Italian Grand Prix in September.


With Raikkonen expected to move and Juan Pablo Montoya failing to impress team bosses with his recent form, the door seems to have been left open for British youngster Lewis Hamilton to join Fernando Alonso in a McLaren-Mercedes next year, even if he denies that any such deal has been yet made.



Source: Crash.net

From the relatively mundane Circuit de Catalunya, the Formula One circus moves onto the far more glamorous surroundings Monte Carlo for the always spectacular Monaco Grand Prix.


With the tight street circuit layout having changed little over the years, the Monaco Grand Prix is the jewel in the F1 crown, rewarding the brave and punishing those who step outside its limited confines.

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