“Where can I park my yacht?”: $698 starting tickets for Monaco GP stirs sarcasm by ex F1 champion

Prices for tickets at the Monaco GP have just gone up and ex-F1 Champion Damon Hill took a subtle dig at this. 

Over the last few months, there were talks of F1 removing some of it’s most iconic tracks from the calendar. There are new races like Las Vegas and Qatar being introduced to the schedule, whereas tracks like Shanghai are set to make a return.

As a result, some of the races in the current calendar need to go. However, the fact that tracks like Spa-Francorchamps and Monaco were being considered for this did not sit right with many in the F1 community. Right before this year’s Belgian GP, F1 announced that the sport will not be leaving Belgium in 2023, but Monaco’s future was still up in the air.

Monaco’s place on the #F1 calendar is perhaps not as secure as it once was with a deal for 2023 and beyond yet to be reached.@NobleF1 outlines the key topics that will be at the heart of F1’s contract discussions. #MonacoGP 🏎

⬇️https://t.co/BIfOxvCTDM

— Autosport (@autosport) May 29, 2022

Over the last few years, Monaco hasn’t really produced great racing. The bigger wider F1 cars today find it difficult to provide drivers with overtaking opportunities. This has led to the Monaco GP being labeled as 78-laps of boredom. In spite of that, most fans and every single driver wanted the iconic circuit to remain in F1.

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Damon Hill criticizes abnormally high ticket prices of Monaco GP

Monaco is referred to as the crown jewel of F1. It’s one of the most glamorous races with some of the biggest celebrities attending the event over the course of the weekend.

A highlight of Monaco is when the drivers pass the Nouvelle Chicane, adjacent to which dozens of yachts are parked which belong to people with money. When the starting ticket prices for the 2023 Monaco GP was revealed to cost $698,Hill could not help but sarcastically comment, “Where can I park my yacht?”

How much to park a Yacht?

— Damon Hill (@HillF1) September 15, 2022

The fact that the starting ticket prices cost close to $700 means that the grandstand passes will be costing a lot more. For a sport that is rapidly growing and bringing in new fans every season, the ticket prices are unusually high. Fans on social media were not happy with this, and it comes even before the prices have been officially revealed.

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