Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix

Short of a divine calling or some sort of athletic/outdoorsy obsession, let's be honest here... who wants to get up before 8 AM on a Sunday? Racing fans who did rise with the songbirds yesterday, however, were rewarded with one hell of a spectacle. In fact, this past Race Sunday was loaded with wheel-to-wheel action in all manner of motorsports, between the Indianapolis 500, NASCAR Coca-Cola 600, Nurburgring 24 and, of course, the Monaco Grand Prix. We're talking about the latter here, and if you've yet to cue up the TiVo, we suggest you go no further. For those looking for a recap of the day's events on the narrow, winding streets of Monte Carlo, click below to read on.

Guess which one's the Prince? Click to view in hi-res

For the environmental conscience of the style-conscious elite, we have good news and bad news. The good news is that there's finally a more suitable alternative to the Toyota Prius. The bad news is that it's arguably no better looking. But like moths to the limelight, the big names have flocked to the new BMW Hydrogen 7. After being adopted by such stars as Cameron Diaz, Will Ferrell, Jay Leno and Placido Domingo, the latest of the rich and famous to receive the keys to the luxo-enviromobile is none other than His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco.

The monarch of the tax-haven Mediterranean principality took delivery of the Hydrogen 7 at the Ever Monaco environmental exposition in Monte Carlo, where Prince Albert proclaimed, "I monitor very carefully, in the automobile sector in particular, the development of new technologies". Hmm, guess that means the crown prince reads Autoblog – or our sister-site Autoblog Green, which reported this particular piece of news previously – on a fairly regular basis then. Welcome to the site, your highness.

Unfortunately this means that with only 100 examples of the car being offered to the public, that's one less for the rest of us. Press release after the jump.

[Source: BMW]

If you're an F1 buff looking to spend a whole lot of time not doing whatever work you're supposed to be doing, head over to the Monaco Grand Prix Library. The site is the Internet version of the book, The Monaco Grand Prix Library by Belgian author Roy Hulsbergen. Endorsed by the Automobile Club of Monaco, it details everything -- drivers, results, cars, fastest laps, retirements -- and includes photos and commentary from every Monaco GP run since 1929. There's even video, such as the clip from the 1934 GP, won by Algerian driver Guy Moll in his Alfa Romeo B 2.9 in 3:31.31. So it might not be the best thing for workplace productivity -- or even Sunday afternoon productivity -- but this is what the Internet is all about.

[Source: Monaco-Grandsprix.org]

With the recent highly-anticipated announcement of the DVD release for "Grand Prix", fans have had reason to rejoice. After a petition-signing campaign, Warner Home Video made the right call and decided to release this classic movie on the old digital video disc format. A two-disc, 40th anniversary special edition of John Frankenheimer's Academy Award-winning movie is now scheduled for a U.S. release on July 11.

Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, 16x9 widescreen format, and several special feature documentaries will allow viewers to experience this great movie like never before. But if you just can't wait another month, we have a new treat for you, via YouTube. A partial behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Monaco portion of the film is available after the jump. The description says it all: "This is Monaco in the mid 60s. The Making of the John Frankenheimer film 'Grand Prix' on Monaco. Sweet glamour of an era that will never be the same." Click through to see the whole 12-minute clip. Keep an eye out for the GT40 camera car!

[Source: YouTube]

Racing is all about limits. Finding the very extreme to which the driver, the car, the tires and every other factor can be pushed. Come too short of it and come short of competition. Go past it and wear out the car, crash, or worse.

Every racing driver studies the limits and pushes them, but on one day, the legendary Ayrton Senna managed to defy physics, exceed the limits and, until a certain point at least, lived to tell us about it. That was in 1989 at Monaco, the most difficult and challenging course on the F1 calendar. This video takes you on board with the fateful champ as he raced for pole, and took it away from Ferrari's Alain Prost.

[Source: YouTube}

Nokia has an upscale division that goes by the name Vertu, which happens to make some pretty nifty phones. They aren't for everybody -- not with pricetags that sound like the down payment on a Porsche -- but they will certainly appeal to those of us who are interested in automobilia. One line of phones in particular should prove irresistible to motorsports aficionados. Vertu's Racetrack Legends series consists of six limited-edition phones, each featuring a different racetrack on its shell. The final two members of the set were just released, depicting Monaco and the Nürburgring.

Like the previous issues (Monza, Silverstone, Indianapolis and Le Mans), the new models each have a uniquely-colored casing (yellow for Monaco, titanium gray for the 'Ring) with a map of the track etched into it. Available for around $6,400 each, they make quite a stocking stuffer. If you really feel like splurging, you can get the whole boxed set. The box alone probably costs more than most of our cars. It's made of carbon fiber, with three drawers under the display level for the cases and oth accessories. Stylish and exclusive, the limited edition ractreack phones are limited to 1000 units each. Limited or not, six grand is an insane amont of money, but hey, to each his (or her) own.

[Source: Vertu via Sybarites]

It's not often that we post video footage from BET, but Jay-Z's latest music video for "Show Me What You Got" makes us wonder if we haven't been missing something.

The video puts some hip-hop flava' on the James Bond theme, set in Monaco with Jay-Z cruisin' the streets of Monte Carlo, ridin' the Mediterranean waves in a speed boat, layin' down some cards and cash at the casino and kickin' it at a seaside party.

The best part is right up front in the first minute, with Jay-Z riding shotgun in a Ferrari F430 Spider with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at the wheel, racing Danica Patrick in a Pagani Zonda Roadster down Monaco's unrestricted countryside roads. Whether you like rap music or not, this video's not to be missed.

[Source: Jalopnik]

Win on Sunday, get a budget boost on Monday - that's the way it seems to be working for Renault's Formula 1 team. The team has been operating under a cloud of uncertainty about its future ever since Carlos Ghosn (right), renowned cost-cutter, took the reins as president and CEO of Renault. Indeed, many attribute the pending loss of 2005 world champion (and 2006 points leader) Fernando Alonso at the end of the season to his possible concerns about the future of the team.

Ghosn, in attendance at Renault's dominating performance in this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, moved to affirm his support for Renault's F1 effort, saying, "There are a lot of cars arriving in the next three years that will benefit directly from the halo effect of our Formula 1 victories." (The team's F1 drivers figure prominently in PR shots for its newly-launched Clio Renault Sport model, for example.)

More importantly (certainly to the team), the famously frugal Ghosn confirmed that the team would have the "necessary funding" to compete "at the top level." He did take a dig at some of Renault's more, um, free-spending rivals in Formula 1 (read, Toyota), saying, "We are achieving the best results on one of the smallest budgets... It would be embarassing if things were the other way round, and we had the biggest budget with no results." (Ouch!)

[Source: RenaultF1.com]

This weekend saw the 5th running of the Monaco Historic GP, an enormously popular historic race that runs the weekend before the Monaco GP, in front of a crowd rivaling that of the current event.

Grand Prix cars are, by their very nature, rare beasts, with a competitive lifetime measured in months, not years. So it's no wonder that huge crowds show up to see some of the most spectacular surviving cars race on a classic circuit that will host its 64th Grand Prix next weekend. It's a brave driver (and an even braver owner) who will risk one of these priceless cars in wheel to wheel competition, no matter how gentlemanly. (The lead photo shows a March leading a pack of irreplaceable early '70s Formula 1 cars in one of the weekend's events.)

The Automobile Club de Monaco has a host of photo galleries from the 2006 event, and an archive of photos from earlier events. Enjoy!

[Source: Automobile Club de Monaco]

None other than His Serene Highness Prince Albert II unveiled the Caparo T1 at the Top Marques auto show in Monaco. The calm and dignified ruler of the principality was joined by hyperactive motorsports commentator Murray Walker, who has had the pleasure of a drive in another project by T1 masterminds Ben Scott-Geddes and Graham Halstead - the McLaren two-seater Formula 1 car. (Surely it's not a coincidence that the two ex-McLaren engineers chose orange - the color of McLaren's historic team cars - for the first T1.) More after the jump...