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Formula One: Charles Leclerc earned €8,831 per lap last season

by: Luke Entwistle
12/04/2023
Charles Leclerc at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix

Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc earned €8,831 per lap last season, the eighth highest on the grid, but considerably behind Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who earned almost €30,000 per lap completed in the 2022 season.

Leclerc finished second in the driver’s championship last season. Despite a promising start to the campaign, which saw the Monégasque driver win two out of the first three races, Leclerc and the Ferrari team became unstuck in the midseason. Consequently, it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who strolled to a consecutive world title. 

However, the Dutchman wasn’t the highest earner per lap last season, according to research carried out by OLBG. That accolade goes to Hamilton, who completed 1,246 laps – 25 fewer than Verstappen – and earned an extraordinary €28,090 per lap raced. 

Verstappen, whose estimated salary is the same as Hamilton’s at €35,000,000, was the second-highest earner per lap. Monaco resident Lando Norris was placed third, ahead of Fernando Alonso, who at the time was racing for Alpine. 

The recently retired Sebastien Vettel was fifth, ahead of another driver no longer on the grid, Daniel Ricciardo. Carlos Sainz, who according to OLBG’s estimations earns €500,000 more than Leclerc, was seventh. Having completed 156 laps fewer than his teammate over the course of the season, Sainz is comfortably ahead of Leclerc (€10,649). 

Charles Leclerc one of the best value for money drivers on last year’s grid

Leclerc was then in eighth, earning €8,831 per lap. Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsundoa was the lowest earner per lap with just €590 earned each time he passed the start/finish line. 

Leclerc also earned €34,091 for each one of his 308 points earned during the last campaign, the third-lowest on the grid. Stroll, who earned €472,222 per point comes top of the list, representing the worst value for money. Mercedes’ George Russell, meanwhile, was the best value for money, earning just €16,364 per point in his first season with the team.

 

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Photo from Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

What to expect from the pension reform strikes on 13th April

by: Elsa Carpenter
12/04/2023
sncf avantage

The next round of mass protests against France’s pension reforms is to take place on Thursday 13th April. Here’s what to expect. 

Marking the 12th round of strikes since French President Emmanuel Macron announced his controversial plans to shake up the nation’s pensions system back in January, the incoming day of union action is going to affect commuters on their way to work the most heavily.  

SNCF train services are likely to be seriously disrupted, with early estimates from the rail travel network suggesting just one in five Intercités train and three in five TER trains will be running. Late evening and overnight services will be entirely cut, according to Le Figaro. TGVs will be impacted less, although some cancellations should be expected. 

The Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile (DGAC) has announced 20% of flights will be culled in the regional airports of Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes, but airports in the French Riviera and Paris have been spared cancellations. Delays, however, could still materialise.  

France’s refineries are expected to kick off a two-day strike on Thursday 13th April, adding further pressure to low stocks in fuel stations across the country. A map detailing where to find fuel can be found here. 

Schools and other educational establishments do not appear to be affected by the protests.  

The most recent day of strikes, which took place on Thursday 6th April, saw over 110 people arrested by police and more than 150 officers injured in the shuffles around the country, according to French politician Gérald Darmanin.  

 

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Photo by Monaco Life

Daniel Mulhall goes “Around the World” with Yeats and Joyce

by: Stephanie Horsman
12/04/2023
daniel mulhall

In May, the Princess Grace Irish Library will host former Irish diplomat Danial Mulhall, who will be looking back over his 44 years of telling Ireland’s story using W.B. Yeats and James Joyce.  

When fiction and reality collide, it makes for a heady brew. This will most certainly be the case when Daniel Mulhall, a former diplomat who held ambassadorial posts in Berlin, London and Washington, tells how he spent 44 years revealing the nature, identity and long literary history of his country via the works of two renowned Irish authors.  He also published his own book, Ulysses – A Reader’s Odyssey, in 2022. 

The one-night-only event is being held at the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco on Wednesday 10th May. Entitled “Around the World with W.B. Yeats and James Joyce: A Diplomatic Odyssey”, Mulhall will tie in his nation’s modern history with that of the past, drawing on literary references to explain the complexities of the people, places and events that shaped, and continue to shape, Ireland.  

“Mulhall’s deployment of Joyce and Yeats around the world is a masterly example of exercising ‘soft power’ on behalf of Ireland,” says Ted Smyth, a former diplomat and business leader familiar with Mulhall. “Ireland might not have a large security force, but it does have an army of fabulous writers, poets, musicians, and artists who, with our talented diplomats, enable Ireland to punch above its weight in the international arena. Mulhall cleverly decodes all 18 episodes of James Joyce’s famous book while also providing personal and funny insights.”  

The lecture will take place at 7pm. It will be animated by actors from the Monaco-Ireland Arts Society, who will do dramatic readings of works by Yeats and Joyce. For more information, please click here. 

 

Do you have an event in Monaco or the French Riviera that you would like us to include in our What’s On section and events calendar? Please email editor@monacolife.net.  

 

Photo source: Princess Grace Irish Library

The most beautiful driving routes on the French Riviera

by: Elsa Carpenter
11/04/2023
driving route french riviera

The landscape of the Côte d’Azur has provided the backdrop for many a Hollywood movie driving scene. Experience its beauty for yourself with these five stunning routes. 

The geographical richness of the French Riviera, from the scintillating shores of the Mediterranean to the high peaks of the Alps and all the rolling hills between, has long made the region a favourite amongst drivers looking for a few blissful hours behind the wheel.  

The Grande, Moyenne and Basse Corniches between Nice and Monaco are well-known for their views, but if you venture just slightly further into the French Riviera, there are plenty more adventures to be had.  

The Corniche d’Or that clings to the edges of the iconic red rock of the Estérel, from Saint Raphaël to Theoule sur Mer, is celebrating its 120th anniversary this month. The combination of the rhyolite rock, the blue of the sea below and the green of the native shrubs that have colonised the range is simply spectacular. You’ll be hard pressed to resist stopping the car to check out the area on foot; 32,000 hectares of pristine nature await explorers on the many hiking and bikes trails that lead off the main road.  

driving route french riviera
A bird’s eye view of the Corniche d’Or. Photo: Estérel Côte d’Azur

Another favoured coastal drive is the Route des Crêtes between La Ciotat and Cassis. The road rises and falls on both sides of the Cap Canaille, and although it is a relatively short drive of about 15 kilometres, it is certainly worthy of a visit. To the east is Bandol and to the west are the Calanques de Cassis. On clear days, the islands off Marseille can also be spotted.  

While you’re in the realm of Provence, an excursion to the Chartreuse de la Verne in Collobrières is highly recommended. This Carthusian monastery is equidistant from the towns of Le Lavandou, Cavalaire sur Mer and Saint Tropez, so if you’re holidaying on the coast, make sure to add this destination to your list of possible day trips.

driving route french riviera
The hilltop gem of Chartreuse de La Verne. Photo: Xavier Larreur / Facebook

 Heading back towards Monaco, the Route de Napoleon technically begins in Golfe Juan, between Cannes and Antibes, but you won’t fully appreciate its beauty and scale until you reach Grasse and the hinterland behind the perfume capital. It marks the route that Napoleon took after leaving his exile in Elba in 1815, and twists through the mountainous backcountry of southern France, all the way to Grenoble. The stretch between Grasse and Castellane makes for the perfect family drive, and can easily be done in a morning if you allow for coffee and croissant stops in the little villages along the way.  

Our final favourite drive is a variation of the roads up to the Col de Turini. Beloved by cyclists for its intensity and reward, the pinnacle is the high mountain pass at over 1,500 metres above sea level. It’s a mainstay on the schedule of the Rallye de Monte-Carlo too. It can be approached from La Bollène Vesubie, Sospel or Lucéram, giving you plenty of options for a round route.  

 

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Main photo source: Estérel Côte d’Azur

 

 

 

Palace announces Kristel Malgherini as new Advisor to the Prince’s Cabinet

by: Stephanie Horsman
11/04/2023
Kristel Malgherini

The Palais Princier de Monaco has announced that Kristel Malgherini, the former Secretary General to the Department of Social Affairs and Health, will replace Isabelle Costa as an Advisor to the Prince’s Cabinet. 

During the tense times of the Covid pandemic, Malgherini was a staunch advocate for the Principality’s vaccination programme in her role as Technical Advisor to the Department of Social Affairs and Health. 

Her handling of the situation brought attention to her professional competence, a skill that she will now bring to her newly announced role as Advisor to the Prince’s Cabinet for Social Affairs and Health, the European Union and legal affairs.  

She is replacing Isabelle Costa, who has taken up the mantle of High Commissioner for European Affairs for Monaco. 

Malgherini holds a Diploma of Advanced Law Studies from the Université Côte d’Azur in Nice. After graduating, she worked for the National Council before joining the Department of Health and Social Action as an administrator.  

She then joined the Department of Social Affairs and Health at the Ministry of State in 2014 to successively perform the functions of Division Head, Project Manager and Technical Advisor, before being appointed as Secretary General in 2021. 

 

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Photo courtesy of the Palais Princier de Monaco 

Picasso’s Mougins home to become international art centre

by: Stephanie Horsman
11/04/2023
picasso art centre

50 years after his death, the last home of legendary artist Pablo Picasso is being transformed by its current owner into an international art centre with an estimated price tag of €114 million.  

Painter, sculptor, designer and ceramist Pablo Picasso had an enormous influence on art in the 20th century. A long-time denizen of the south of France, the artist was prolific throughout his lifetime and never ceased to create, even in his later years.  

Now, a half century after his death, the owner of Picasso’s last home in Mougins, formerly known as Mas Notre-Dame-de-Vie, but now called Château de Vie, is undergoing a transformation even the great man himself would be astounded by.  

A global hub for artists and institutions

Current owner Rayo Withanage, the New Zealand billionaire who started Scepter, has laid bare his plans to convert the villa into a “global hub” where art will flourish through collaborations with “major artists and institutions from around the world”. 

Withanage, who bought the property complete with its 500-year-old olive groves and stunning orangery in a 2017 auction for €20 million, has pledged £100 million or €114 million to get the ball rolling on the project.  

“We invite the most iconic artists and creative institutions around the world to see the world as Picasso saw it, to work in his studio, and to consider the influence of his work,” he has said, adding that he envisions the villa to be a place where artists can work in-residence and that part of whatever proceeds are made from the sale of artworks will be donated to charities.  

Picasso’s time in Château de Vie coincided with some his happiest and most productive years. The house went to his wife Jacqueline Roque after his death in 1973. Jacqueline was bereft and reportedly left everything exactly as it had been the day he died, down to the place he last set down his reading glasses. She committed suicide in 1986. The villa then stood empty for 30 years.  

 

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