Funny how loose a concept of safety people had back then. Amazing there weren’t dozens of onlooker deaths per race.
That was fun- thanks for sharing! The course layout has changed a bit, but nowhere near as much as the surrounding town. It'll be interesting to see how the circuit may change going forward if the ACM yields to such demands, especially if they attempt to incorporate parts of the new neighborhood being reclaimed from the sea over towards Larvotto.
Yes, the cars were a lot smaller then, and underpowered by today's standards. No aero, steel brakes and manual gearboxes probably made them tricky to drive on narrow threaded tyres. Proof that you don't necessarily need high-tech cars to have exciting races. BTW, the Monaco GP went the whole 100 laps then, not 70 like today. Also the whole race went without tyre change; unthinkable today !
I was at that race and sat with some pals on a stonewall at the entrance to the Station Hairpin about 10 feet above the track. We could see directly into the cockpits as the cars passed below our feet and watch the drivers change gears. The stonewall is still there but the station is now the Fairmont Hotel. The thought that it might be a dangerous place to watch the race never entered our minds.
The Casino staff relied on that station underneath in order to catch the last train to Nice. Otherwise they were stuck in MC until their next shift !
Not to mention the thousands of up and down shifts made by drivers. I venture to guess many modern driver wouldn't make it 5 laps before burning up the clutch
No pics from that or the following year's race. In my student days I doubt I even owned a camera. But being in a racing team ownership family (plus occasionally holding a wrench when my brother was a F1 team manager), and thus having unlimited course and pit/garage access, I have many cool pics taken at Monaco and the other F1 venues from later years. A few have somehow made it into Wikipedia.
