Monte Carlo’s massive €2 billion offshore expansion project which is currently underway in the Principality could also mean an important change of layout regarding the Formula One track. Located just before the circuit’s tunnel, the urban expansion over the Mediterranean is set to steal approximately 15 acres of land from the sea.
Once complete by the end of 2025, the new district, Portier Cove, will include residential properties – among the most expensive in the world – public spaces, a landscaped park and a small marina. Prince Albert II has recently confirmed that the extra parcel could eventually also serve the purpose of tweaking the layout of Monaco’s twisty course: We always look, every once in a while, at different possibilities of extending the track, and certainly something to think about is that we are building the new land extension,” Prince Albert said in an interview with Forbes – “There are no plans or anything yet, it is just in the back of all of our minds — people in the Automobile Club but also in the government — that there could be. I am not saying that it will happen necessarily, but at some point we are going to put our minds together and say, how can we not only improve this, but how can we make it a little more exciting by maybe changing the course slightly? We haven’t gone beyond this simple statement of an idea — something that is in the back of our minds” – he explained, as reported by Forbes.
An F1 anachronism among the sport’s modern venues, Monaco clings to Grand Prix racing as F1 clings to its glitzy glamour: “It is such a part of the history of the sport that I can’t envisage an F1 season without the Monaco Grand Prix. When you talk to all the partners of F1 and they tell you this is one of the venues where we don’t hesitate to bring our customers, that has got to mean something. It is unique for most people.” – Prince Albert concluded.
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