Monaco: Fast Cars and Big Spenders

Monaco on the day of the Grand Prix.
Photograph by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images.
Spanish driver Fernando Alonso motors around the Monaco circuit.
Photograph by Mark Thompson/Getty Images.
Fans High Above the Track Hoist a Banner in Support of Fernando Alonso

The banner’s background is the flag of Asturias, the autonomous region of Spain where Alonso was born.
Photograph by Josh Levin for CREDIT: Slate.
Hoping to catch a glimpse through a temporary metal barricade.
Photograph by J. Seidman for CREDIT: Slate.
Watching the race on a portable television.
Photograph by J. Seidman for CREDIT: Slate.
A Fan in Costume

The double headgear seen here consists of a Michael Schumacher hat and Schumacher’s disembodied, helmeted head.
Photograph by Josh Levin for CREDIT: Slate.
Manning the cigarette booth.
Photograph by J. Seidman for CREDIT: Slate.
A coveted spot on a balcony marks a race attendee as a member of Monaco’s upper crust.
Photograph by J. Seidman for CREDIT: Slate.
The Yacht Club de Monaco on race day.
Photograph by Josh Levin for CREDIT: Slate.
Why watch cars go around in circles when you can chill on a boat in Monaco Harbor?
Photograph by Josh Levin for CREDIT: Slate.
The ultimate in futility: trying to make a phone call during the ear-splitting race.
Photograph by Josh Levin for CREDIT: Slate.
The Grand Prix winner, Germany’s Sebastian Vettel, celebrates in front of Prince Albert II (far right) and his then-fiancee Charlene Wittstock.
Photograph by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images.
Happy times at Red Bull’s pool party after Sebastian Vettel’s victory.
Photograph by Paul Gilham/Getty Images.
The end of an exhausting afternoon.
Photograph by J. Seidman for CREDIT: Slate.
Monaco’s changing of the guard ceremony begins at precisely 11:55 a.m. each day.
Photograph by J. Seidman for CREDIT: Slate.