In an interview with Reuters after the Monaco meet, the champ said: “It took a lot of mind setting to keep being motivated this year because so many people are staying at home, but you have to stay motivated. I pushed myself, I had the right staff with me, the right coach. I’m also usually based in Europe but being based in Uganda with my family was actually great. I will for sure celebrate the world record when I get home.”
In a disastrous turn of events, Charles Leclerc’s engine simply “switched off” during the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona over the weekend, forcing the Monegasque to retire from the race.
Team Ferrari suffered a major setback as Charles Leclerc’s car, whilst battling for position midway into the race, lost power and was unable to move on the exit of a corner. He was ultimately able to get the car going again and managed to make it to the pits before calling it quits for the day.
The pilot was clearly disappointed but remained optimistic despite the bad day, saying on his Instagram account: “Top 5 was on the cards today. Unfortunately, the car switched off in the last chicane. We’ll investigate where the issue came from. Positive race otherwise but still far from where we want to be. Onto the next race.”
Leclerc told Sky Sports after the race that prior to the engine’s failure and despite the hot conditions, he was feeling quite confident of a solid finish, but fate intervened.
“There were two issues. The first is that the engine switched off, then I tried to switch it on again.
“When I saw it wasn’t going, when I saw it wasn’t starting again, I took off my seatbelt. Then I had to box again for the seatbelt but unfortunately the race was already over before that, when the engine switched off. It is a shame, but we will work to understand what went wrong.”
The race was won by Lewis Hamilton who is virtually unstoppable this season. His lead was a massive 24 seconds and the British pilot dominated from start to finish. Last week’s winner, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, came in at the number two spot and Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, took third.
As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations for the Grimaldi Forum, a series retrospectives are being made available to the public. The latest, Circus Days, from 2002 is the third in the series giving circus lovers a glimpse at circus art and memorabilia from around the world.
Circus Days, a video from the September 2002 Grimaldi Forum exhibition of the same name, is animated by hundreds of characters, posters, parade floats, costumes and accessories, and even a 12-metre model, bringing the behind-the-scenes history of the circus to life for all ages.
Since circuses hit the scene in the 18th century, they have been places of wonder. Even as adults, many fondly recall the special family outings to the circus, a rite of passage into a secret world of clowns, acrobats and animal tamers.
Artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Cocteau, Manet, and Chagall have memorialised the circus in their works, and “circus art” is a hugely popular genre, nearly on par with still-life, portrait and landscape. Photographers have been no less fascinated, and hundreds of photos were collected to decorate the original exhibit.
The video traces the route of the original expo featuring the extraordinary collection gathered by Geev Gourarier, curator of the exhibition. In addition to photos, posters and art, there were original horse drawn carriages, which also doubled as shelter for the artists, and were typically paraded through towns to announce the arrival of the spectacles.
To watch the video, visit grimaldiforum.com or click on the following link: https://tv.grimaldiforum.com/embed-440
House prices are 91% higher in monarchy nations, but who sits on the throne of global monarchy property prices?
The latest research from high-net-worth (HNW) mortgage broker Enness Global has examined current nations with a monarchy at the helm and discovered which ones comes out on top with regards to royal property prices.
On average, the current property price per square metre (sqm) across nations with a monarchy is €2,870, 91% higher than nations without a monarchy.
When it comes to the most prestigious property price monarch, Prince Albert II of Monaco claims the throne with a current average price of €47,650 per sq m.
Luxembourg is the next most prestigious monarchy property market, with Henri Grand Duke of Luxembourg presiding over an average property price of €9,690 per sq m.
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito places third with the current cost of buying at €7,870 per sq m.
Norway (€5,700), Kuwait (€5,640) and Sweden (€5,290) also rank highly, while Queen Elizabeth II comes in at seventh, but not with the UK. Australia is home to a current average property cost of €5,090, making it the jewel in the property crown of the Queen.
Denmark ranks next (€5,020) with the UK coming in at number nine (€4,770) and another property empire of the UK monarch, New Zeland (€4,470), completing the top 10.
“It doesn’t get much higher in high society than rubbing shoulders with a royal,” said Managing Director of Enness Global Mortgages Hugh Wade-Jones. “As a result, some of the most prestigious pockets of the global property market are situated in and around a royal residence. This seems to influences house prices at the top level, with nations home to a monarch commanding almost double that of their monarch-less counterparts.”
Italy has made masks mandatory at night in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus after recording more than 600 cases in a day.
The nearby country, which was the first in Europe to enforce a lockdown, now requires people wear masks between the hours of 6pm and 6am, and has also closed nightclubs amid the uptick in cases.
Meanwhile, vacationers in Rome coming from Croatia, Greece, Malta or Spain are now being tested for coronavirus upon arrival in the country.
The new restrictions come as European countries see a resurgence in cases.
France recorded more than 3,300 new cases in 24 hours, the highest number reported since May.
The French government announced plans to increase social distancing measures in workplaces, including encouraging people to wear masks in the office and if possible, work from home.
Spain closed nightclubs as its incidence rate of Covid-19 rose to an average of 115 cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks.
Photo: Cinque Terre, Italy
Sign up for the Monaco Life email newsletter.
