Floods, massages and collapsing drivers – 5 crazy street circuit debuts from F1 history | Formula 1® – Formula 1
The Las Vegas Grand Prix will make its debut on the calendar in 2023, with Formula 1 heading to the glamourous and glitzy city for a race that will take in the famous Strip, as well as other Las Vegas icons including the Bellagio, Caesars Palace and the Venetian.
Set to be one of the fastest ever street circuits in Formula 1, the Las Vegas Grand Prix will be truly spectacular.
But the track also becomes part of a rich history of street circuits in Formula 1. So, combing back through the annals, here are five crazy street circuit debuts from F1 history – including the last Las Vegas venue to host the sport…
READ MORE: Las Vegas to host Formula 1 night race from 2023
Monaco
Debut: 1950
Remembered for: Fangio rides the waves to victory
Juan Manuel Fangio would take 24 victories and a full five titles in his time in Formula 1. But the Argentine’s first win would come in bizarre circumstances at the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix – the second race in the World Championship’s history, and the first to feature Ferraris.
Kings of Monaco: How the likes of Hill, Senna and Schumacher mastered F1’s most magical race
Motorsport had actually begun on the streets of Monaco back in 1929, with aristocratic racers drawn to the venue’s Riviera-side chic. But that proximity to the sea would wreak havoc in 1950, when a wave from the harbour washed over the track on Lap 1 at Tabac, causing a pile-up that put paid to nearly half the field, including front-runners like Nino Farina and Luigi Fagioli.
The canny Fangio, however, made it through unscathed, going on to take an easy victory for Alfa Romeo, one lap up on the Ferrari of Alberto Ascari – who five years later would crash into the self-same harbour.
Fangio slips past a stricken car en route to victory
Montjuic
Debut: 1969
Remembered for: F1’s high wing fever ends in disaster
Formula 1’s honeymoon with Wacky Races-style aerodynamic appendages came to an abrupt halt at the 1969 Spanish Grand Prix, the first race to he held on the streets that wound around Barcelona’s Montjuic Park.
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