Book Review: Monaco – Inside F1’s Greatest Race by Malcolm Folley

As we head into next weekend’s Monaco GP, there will no doubt be a re-examination of Checo v Max recriminations during last year’s qualifying session. For the tifosi, hopefully Charles can finally shake his hoodoo and take a long overdue home GP victory! The Monaco GP has constantly been labelled as a boring race but it has a rich history of dramatic races (e.g. Senna 1984, Panis 1996), it’s the race win every driver wants on their CV and multiple 3+ times race winners there are members of a very elite club (i.e. Senna, Hill, Schumacher, Moss, Stewart, Prost, Rosberg).

There have been several books (e.g. Michael Hewett’s Monaco Grand Prix and Rainier Schlegelmilch’s Grand Prix de Monaco)  on the history of the Monaco GP but most were published more than 15 years ago. Malcolm Folley’s “Monaco” was published back in 2017 and is an excellently researched and interviewed paperback read across 350 pages.

The book is structured into 13 chapters covering:

1. Monaco royalty and the Automobile Club de Monaco.
2. Stirling Moss, Graham Hill and Sir Jackie Stewart (with detailed interview quotes from Sir Jackie).
3. Lauda and Hunt – including interview with Niki.
4. 1984: Senna and Brundle
5. Tobacco sponsorship
6. Senna (basically 1988-1993)
7. Imola 1994 (deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger setting the scene for 1994 Monaco GP)
8. Karl Wendlinger’s accident and coma in 1994 qualifying.
9. Ferrari signing Michael Schumacher during 1995 Monaco GP
10. Ligier and Olivier Panis 1996 (with detailed interview quotes from Olivier)
11. Schumacher Ferrari era at Monaco (Monaco 1998-2006 races)
12. Family racers – Hills, Rosbergs and Hamilton (not so much Lewis but insights from Nico)
13. Epilogue (interview quotes from Charlie Whiting)

Although Malcolm Folley has managed to include exclusive interview quotes from several big names for this book including David Coulthard, Niki Lauda, Ross Brawn, Sir Jackie Stewart, Martin Brundle, Damon Hill and Nico Rosberg, it is interviews with other lesser known behind the scenes people involved with the Monaco GP that are just as illuminating and really round out the book. These interviews include anecdotes from Steven Tee (F1 photographer), Lynden Swainston (knowledgeable travel agent for Monaco GP accomodation) and caterer Lyndy Redding (Absolute Taste). If you’re an Olivier Panis fan, then this book has 2+ chapters of interview insights from the French driver, more than any other English language F1 book I’ve seen.

Photo-wise, the book features black & white and glossy colour snaps from the lens of Steven Tee (LAT). Not all the photos are action race images, in fact most of them are people focussed e.g. Mansell exhausted post race 1992, Nico Rosberg celebrating his 2013 victory, etc.

All up, Monaco by Malcolm Folley will appeal to most older F1 fans and offers a great deal of content that can be enjoyed over several reading sessions.

Wow Factor/Money shot: Ascari pulling his Lancia from Monaco harbour after his famous dive bomb in the 1955 Monaco GP

Suitable for: F1 history fans, Olivier Panis fans.