Two weeks after lifting mandatory masks in the classroom, the government has reinstated voluntary mass testing in schools in an effort to gauge the evolution of the virus without the cover-up rule in place.
Covid testing returns to Monaco schools
Month: March 2022
Red sky at night, Charles Leclerc’s delight
A rejuvenated prancing horse was led home to victory by a dominant Charles Leclerc in the opening race of the F1 season in Bahrain on Sunday, alluding to a much-anticipated championship hunt.
Starting from pole, Ferrari’s Monegasque driver fended off a charge from reigning champion Max Verstappen down into turn one, as drivers kept it largely clean on the first lap. Esteban Ocon spun Mick Schumacher around, but both drivers came out relatively unscathed, although the former did receive a five-second time penalty. No driver made significant gains, although Valterri Bottas’ good work was undone as he dropped eight places back to 14th.
As early as lap five, Verstappen was complaining about a faulty engine over team radio. Although this would prove terminal for both Verstappen and his team-mate Sergio Perez later in the race, the former first provided some brilliant wheel-to-wheel racing with Leclerc.
Perhaps it is too early to jump to conclusions, but this latest era of F1 car has seemingly fulfilled its remit in allowing cars to follow easier in the dirty air. If the Leclerc-Verstappen battle is anything to go by, then fans are in store for an exciting season.
Verstappen failed in his attempt to undercut Leclerc on lap 16, but did considerably close the gap. If last year taught us anything it is that the Dutchman has plenty of courage, and he isn’t afraid to chuck it down the inside of his rivals. That’s exactly what he did on lap 18, as the move was greeted with roars from the crowd.
Down the straight towards turn four, the roles were reversed, and this time it was Verstappen, without DRS who was easy prey for Leclerc who, with the help of DRS, sailed back past. Verstappen wasn’t done there, however, although a sense of deja-vu must have begun to kick in for both drivers as Verstappen pulled off a carbon-copy pass on the next circuit, before conceding it again to Leclerc on the next straight.
The cycle was broken on the next lap as Verstappen, trying a kamikaze move down the inside, locked up and went deep into turn one, allowing Leclerc to sail past and create a buffer to his rival.
Thereafter, the Leclerc victory always looked assured although Verstappen believed he could have pulled off the undercut, had his team not ordered him to take it easy on his outlap. Things would get worse for the reigning world champion as those technical issues came back to bite him. Sacrificing his second place finish, he was forced to limp back to the pits, conceding second place to Carlos Sainz, and handing Ferrari their first one-two since Singapore in 2019.
Just laps later, a similar fate befell his Red Bull team-mate Perez, as he failed to restart his car after a spin on the last lap. Primed to profit was Lewis Hamilton, who enjoyed a largely quiet race, yet still managed to round off the podium.
Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell finished fourth in his debut for Mercedes, whilst the returning Kevin Magnussen in a revived Haas was rewarded for a brilliant drive with fifth position. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend was the lack of pace in the McLaren, who many thought would be challenging Ferrari and Red Bull for podiums. Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris could only manage 14th and 15th place respectively.
But the day belonged to Leclerc who secured only his third career victory, a bonus point for the fastest lap was the cherry on top of a perfect night under the floodlights in Bahrain. Post-race Leclerc reflected on his team’s long road back to the top, saying, “Coming into this season, we knew we would be in a better position than we have been for the past two years, but we didn’t know exactly where we would stand.”
That work has reaped its reward. “To be back on top with a car that is capable of winning feels incredible,” he added.
With the recency of the regulation changes, car development will take an increased importance this season, and Ferrari will have their work cut out to stay on top. That being said, this was Ferrari’s weekend, and Leclerc’s championship push has got off to a perfect start.
Photo source: Scuderia Ferrari press centre
Earth Hour 2022: “pedal power” to light up Casino
Each year on the last Saturday of March at precisely 8:30pm, 190 nations and territories take action to raise awareness of the issues facing Earth, our common home. Monaco is participating this year by turning out the lights on some of the Principality’s most iconic locales.
Photo of the Hôtel de Paris, source Monte-Carlo SBM
Impounded cars and motorbikes go on sale
It’s that time of year again when the government puts up for auction the vehicles that it has seized throughout the year. Here are the details.
The government announced on Monday 21st March that the Domain Administration has published a list of the vehicles that are, from this date, available for purchase and on show at its offices on the 4th floor of 24 rue du Gabian, between the hours of 9:30am to 5pm and on the site:
A small selection of bicycles are also available.
The deadline for offers is Friday 8th April 2022 at 12 noon.
While people are able to view the vehicles in person, the government recommends they download the list of vehicles on the aforementioned website first.
Tenders must be submitted exclusively to the mailbox provided for this purpose, in the entrance hall of the building located at 24 rue du Gabian.
Photo by Chuttersnap on Unsplash
Roca Team round off Monaco’s super Sunday
Whilst Monaco’s football team were busy toppling table-toppers PSG at home, their basketball team made an equally successful trip to the French capital, the win (69-76) taking them level with the Betclic leader.
Victory for both the basketball and football sides, along with Charles Leclerc’s win at the F1 curtain-raiser in Bahrain, made it a memorable day in Monaco’s rich sporting history on Sunday. Whereas the Principality has a long, rich heritage in motorsport and footballing, the same couldn’t be said for their basketball team, until recently.
The expectation that the Roca Team would secure the victory is indicative of a side and a sport that is flourishing within the Principality’s borders. Emphatic both within the French league and in the Euroleague, Sasa Obradovic’s men continue to bolster a growing reputation as a competitive, title-winning force across the continent.
The comfortable victory against Paris sees them move level on wins with Betclic Elite league leaders Boulogne-Levallois. Another qualification for the domestic play-offs is surely now an inevitability.
In a game where defences were on top for large parts of the game, it was the contributions of the American trio of Will Thomas (16), Dwayne Bacon (16) and Alpha Diallo (14) that were decisive.
Narrow victories in the opening three-quarters offset a poor end to the match for Obradovic’s side as a late flurry of three-pointers gave the home side late hope of causing an upset in front of a fervent crowd of over 8,500.
In securing victory, Monaco have now won five on-the-bounce and nine in the last 10. As captain Leo Westermann pointed out post-match, the fixture is only the first of four matches in just six days. “Today we expected a difficult match, the first of a long week,” he said. “We had to manage it well and we knew what we had to do.”
In a crucial week of basketball in the Principality, Monaco hosts Olympiacos (Wednesday) and Baskonia (Friday) in the Euroleague, as well as Bourg-en-Bresse (Saturday) in a French Basketball Cup quarter-final.
Tinkering on the edge of play-off qualification in the Euroleague with only four matches remaining, Wednesday’s and Friday’s matches will be particularly decisive in the course of Monaco’s season.
Photo source: AS Monaco Basketball
Leclerc wins Bahrain opener in Ferrari one-two
Charles Leclerc won Formula One’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in a Ferrari one-two finish with team mate Carlos Sainz on Sunday.
Mercedes’s seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton took a surprise third place after a nightmare for Red Bull and reigning champion Max Verstappen who failed to score.
Ferrari’s last win before Sunday was with Sebastian Vettel in Singapore in September 2019.
Read our full analysis of the race on Monday…
Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office