The Madness That Is Monaco

Monaco....... 

The lifestyle of the rich and famous.  Big yachts and even bigger bank balances....                                                                                        What can you really say about Monaco race weekend rather than it pulls out the kid in everyone.  For being the Five Star race on the Formula One calendar, there is much hi-jinx being displayed. 

With social media at it's prime, any fan on Facebook or Twitter can feel right in the midst of things. 

A back to back week in the Formula One paddock is always an impressive thing to watch.  For the employees, not so impressive.  But when you throw a team like Red Bull into the mix, things tend to liven up.

With the race in Spain the week before, nearly every piece of equipment is packed up and set in trucks for the ride to Monaco.  It's like a convoy on the road the men and women that only get to 'watch' the Formula One races finally get a chance to 'participate' in one. The trucks are in a line and all it would take is one to overtake.  Oh wait...... Found this online at Red Bull Racing's Facebook page, was the photo of their truckies catching up and passing a 'red' vehicle. 

Mean while, the drivers are sent off to have a bit of fun on their own with a game of football in sake of the children's charities with Nazionale Piloti vs Star Team for Children.  Just by logging into Facebook, you can see all the action with Pagina Ufficiale Nazionale Piloti. (Each year, the drivers participate in both a football game, charity auction and fashion show.)

What really makes any fan feel like part of the process is logging into Twitter on the Wednesday the teams arrive in Monaco.  The feed light up with every single team, driver and paddock employee giving insight into what it is like. Whether it be the irks of a back to back race and the traffic it causes.

Sometimes things can happen. Upon arrival in Monaco this year, it flooded across Twitter about a fire on the streets.  Being a street circuit, the road is already one of the hardest and forget about rain.  I've seen it in other races, a street circuit in the rain brings all the oils up to the surface and that can be the end of any driver's race.  When there is a fire, there is an emergency road repair and that can throw off  a team's whole set up! 

The one thing that Formula One now being front and center in social media gives the fans is togetherness.  If you are anywhere within the relative timezone you may not get it, but being from Canada, you feel as if you are there, really there.  With the television feed that is being put on by Canadian broadcasters, there is much that we miss. Being part of twitter, I am allowed to read about and see things that would normally never be seen. 

Jake Humphrey's sums it up in 140 characters of less....