The Weekly Grapevine

Diamond in the rough

Last Saturday evening Williams partner Randstad invited media members to an evening of fun and food aboard the Stad Amsterdam, a 19th century schooner the internal staffing agency had commissioned in 2000, together with the Dutch city where it is headquartered.

The evening was to all intents and purposes a repeat of similar function held during last year's Monaco Grand Prix weekend, with fine food and drink abounding. Not even the ebbing and swaying of the 76m vessel in aggressive weather patterns which abounded from Wednesday through Monday could destroy the atmosphere.

Like last year, the guests crowded the top deck of the full-rigged clipper to take in the magnificent landward sights of Monte Carlo, and beautiful they were, too. The big screen above the harbour chicane showed reruns of qualifying, whilst the drizzly weather gave Prince Albert's home on the hill an eerie facade.

The sight across the harbour begged comparisons with last year - when, apart from rain on Saturday morning, the competitive part of the weekend was dry - and those noting such things remarked upon the emptiness of the harbour.

Clipper Stad Amsterdam in the Monaco harbour © XPB/LAT

Not only were there visibly less boats, but their average size was certainly more modest than in the past. No Roman Abramovich floating palace this time; no competition for the Russian from Icelandic billionaire Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson, whose gigantic 'yacht' last overshadowed every vessel in the tight harbour.

Looking the other way showed that passenger liners were far and few between - last year these acted as floating hotels, with tenders dropping fans at the little harbours which litter the Cote d'Azur - and thus curiosity was sparked. How many folk were there really at Monaco this year, and how did the number compare to previous years?

Local hotels reported a 30 percent drop in occupation this year, whilst an establishment within spitting distance of Nice railway station advertised room availability all weekend.

Another budget hotel, this time on the outskirts of the French city, but with easy access to the A8 motorway was just 80 percent full on Saturday, and even emptier for the rest - in past years the place was packed for five straight nights.

Another measure was the traffic - in this case lack of - on race day. Where in the past this scribe allowed an hour by car for the Nice - Monte Carlo journey at 07:00 on Sunday morning, this year's saw just 25 minutes elapse between hotel departure and arrival at the media centre.

Nice airport provided further indications that the numbers were down: on Wednesday afternoon the normal throngs at baggage carousels were markedly absent, whilst the venue delivered vacant parking slots aplenty during a trip there the following day to check on some lost baggage.

The trains running to and from coastal villages, too, were visibly empty, whilst one couple who swear the general admission 'Rocher' hill below the palace offers the best motor racing views in the world - apart from being able to look directly down at Rascasse, they can see 70 percent of the circuit and view three big-screen TVs - reported on how comparatively empty the area was.

To obtain a prime seat in 2007 they arrived at 05:30 on Sunday morning; this time, despite arriving at 07:30 they got the view they wanted ...

Monaco does not, of course, publish attendance figures - the distinct feeling prevails that the entire Principality considers reporting anything to anybody apart from, of course, the prince and his court, as anathematic - so requests for such information have in the past been met with shrugs. This year they were met with pronounced shrugs ...

However, estimates suggest that, where last year 90,000 attended the race, this year the number was down by at least 10,000, with top-end hospitality operators and apartment owners - who rent out pads at up to £5,000 ($10,000) per day to folk who make up approximately 50 percent of the overall crowd, feeling the biggest squeeze, with the hill also taking a hit.

Spectators at the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix © LAT

There exists a variety of reasons for the drop-off, which impact in various ways. First and not least is that, where Monaco was once the glamour event on the Formula One calendar, there will this year be two further street events, both hosted by cities every bit as stylish as Monte Carlo, and with backdrops every bit as stunning.

When it comes to harbour surroundings, Valencia and Singapore (in 2008 F1 calendar order) have no reason to be ashamed, whilst their overall levels of hospitality probably shade Monaco in every aspect.

Hotel availability is bound to be superior - certainly dollar for dollar - and the novelty of visiting new cities, particularly one hosting F1's first night race, will no doubt have swayed swanking fans into choosing a race other than Monaco to be seen at and be part of.

Already both venues have put out media releases advising of sell-outs (in Singapore's case grandstand capacity has twice been increased to a total of 30 percent over original expectations), something Monaco has never felt the need to do.

Yes, additional seating has been added over the years, whilst re-profiling the final section from the Swimming Pool to pit lane entry did permit three additional stands, two of which offer rather peculiar views, to be built, but actual trackside capacity is nowhere near Valencia levels.

But, if the newies on the circuit will increasingly be thorns in Monaco's side, the other factor is at least temporary, or so hopes Renault.

With the distance from Girona to Monaco being a comfortable morning's run - just 500 kilometres/350 miles on good, fast and empty (on a Sunday) motorways - the place has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for fans of Fernando, who has won here in blue/yellow and silver cars.

There was virtually no chance of that this year - in fact, the hated (by them) Lewis Hamilton was in with a shout on victory (and so it proved), so why should they get up with the sparrows simply to see their hero floundering about in the wet?

Talking of which neatly introduces two further factors. The simplest, and thus the easiest to dispense with, is the weather. With ten-day weather forecasts predicting rain all weekend, folk planning on arriving and taking their chances with tickets and/or standing room on the hill did neat about-turns and stayed dry whilst watching the spectacle on television.

Then there is, of course, Lewis. With most bookings giving him ultra-short odds on victory, many Italians living within easy distance of the circuit - the border is just 20 km/15 miles to the east - may well have decided to save cash by crying at home rather.

And, thus there were far fewer Little Red Riding Hoods about the place than during the Schumacher area, when every bus seemed to have a scarlet headlining.

Lewis Hamilton signs an autograph © XPB/LAT

Whether or not the drop in numbers is real or perceived, permanent or temporary, alarm bells should be ringing in Monte Carlo, London and Paris, for if Monaco can no longer haul in the numbers the question must be asked whether F1's allure is fading, and, if so, why.

Melbourne has admitted to be 30 percent down on past years; the sport did not exactly play to a full house in Malaysia, whilst Bahrain failed to hit 100,000 punters for the entire race weekend.

As related in this column last week, Spain was at least 20,000 bums shy compared to 2007, with not even Turkey's flamboyantly coloured grandstands managing to disguise vast rows of empty seats. And, now, Monaco - and the season is not even 50 percent done ...

PART II

If certain areas with in the Principality were noticeably vacant, the lack of colour on the hoardings and barriers lining the circuits were even more so.

Where once every square centimetre of available space about the place was given over (well, sold for astronomical amounts) to the red and white of a certain fag company, the brand was conspicuous by its absence this year.

Of course, tobacco advertising is now totally banned in the European Union - although opinions vary as to Monaco's actual status within the community - so that was to be, if not totally expected, certainly anticipated. But, surely, blue-chip companies could have been found to step into the breech, and at premium rates, too.

As mentioned last week, Monaco retains the rights to sell off its trackside hoardings itself rather than being forced into adopting the Allsport convention, which sees the Swiss-based associate of Formula One Management sell the space to a core of contracted advertisers for its own account.

Trackside advertising in Monte Carlo © LAT

Thus the likes of Phillip Zepter and his potware enjoyed their annual exposure in living rooms across the world, whilst Johnnie Walker and Martini seemed embroiled in a mini-war for the palates of discerning drinkers.

ING and Bridgestone paid for presence, too - but not even their combined exposure could cover the swathes of plain or white barriers, plus the various bridge banners, which were visible in every shot, regardless of camera angle.

The Automobile Club Monaco tried its best disguise this lack of commercial interest by persuading the local casino to stick its name on a few hoardings and bridge banners. But by far the largest local space simply read 'Monaco Grand Prix' - possibly to remind fans and television viewers exactly where the race they were watch was taking place ...

This lack of commercial interest, coupled with the drop-off in numbers as outlined above, must be doubly worrying for the promoters of the jewel in F1's crown.