Route: Monaco Grand Prix
Area: Monaco
Date of walk: 29th May 2016
Who: Andrew and James
Weather: Rain at first then sun
Our son James is a keen Formula 1 follower and as a special Christmas treat for him (and me, it must be said) I’d bought 2 tickets for us to see the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Monaco – a once in a lifetime experience. Little did I know when ordering the tickets that it would coincide with another such experience – yesterday at Wembley. No complaints, but it was going to be an action packed couple of days to say the least
After arriving back home from Wembley at 1.30am we had a 5am start to catch the plane from Humberside airport to Nice. All went smoothly and we took up our positions by the famous Fairmont hairpin bend in good time for the start of the race. It was raining at the start and this made for some good action photos
Viewing at Monaco is restricted in that wherever you sit or stand there is only a limited amount of track to be seen thanks to the surrounding buildings. However the intimacy of the views is ample compensation and from our balcony at the Fairmont Hotel we were able to take some close up photos of the cars and drivers as they came speeding round the hairpin bend in front of us. It was a fantastic location
James’ favourite driver Lewis Hamilton won the race at the end of the day which capped off what is possibly the best weekend of sport of my life
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Looking out over Monaco from the balcony at the Fairmont Hotel
Rain at the start of the race meant that a safety car had to be used for a while
We have a great view of the cars approaching the Fairmont hairpin bend below us…
...and then accelerating away from it
The early race leader Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull
Sergio Perez of Force India
James and I took it in turns with the long lens, so credit to him for some of these photos
Lens envy
Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes
Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari
The eventual race winner, Lewis Hamilton…
We were glad of the rain, which gave added interest and drama to the photos
Hamilton chasing his teammate Rosberg
Some shots of the Red Bull team…
Drama as Kimi Räikkönen hits the barrier and carries on with his front wing stuck under the wheels, after which he had to retire
Sebastian Vettel in the other Ferrari…
Some wide angle shots of our view as the weather improves and dries out the track
Lewis Hamilton now in the lead following a botched tyre change by Red Bull, and that’s the way it stayed
The end of an incredible weekend of sport
