| From the
starting grid, the cars accelerate to 170 mph and
swing quickly through Turn 1 as the track waves right
and left. Once through they brake heavily, pulling
-3.8g at the entrance to Virage Senna. This hairpin is
marked by a tight 90-degree turn to the left before
the hairpin itself turns the cars through 180 degrees
and it is negotiated at 45 mph in 2nd gear. Cars
quickly accelerate to 150 mph and 5th gear as the
track curves gently to the right. A series of bends
(Turns 2-6) see the cars down to 3rd gear and speeds
averaging 60 mph as the circuit turns to the right.
Turn 7 marks the Pont
de la Concorde which occupies about a third of the
track length. This is a long straight, broken up by a
quick right-left turn – Turn 8 and Turn 9 – that
can be negotiated in 3rd gear. Decelerating from 170
mph, the right bend is entered at 50 mph and then
exited at 65 mph. The lead-up to Turn 10, which marks
the Virage du Casino, is done at full throttle with a
top speed of around 170 mph. This hairpin comes at a
point where the entrance and exit run side by side,
and so it gives the drivers a chance to see who is
behind them. It is a relatively wide portion of the
track and it is common to see overtaking manoeuvres
here as cars try to out-brake one another. It is also
the slowest part of the track, with cars braking down
from 180 mph to around 40 mph.
Patients in the nearby
hospital get a good view of the cars accelerating up
through the gears along the Casino Straight. This is
the fastest section of track with cars hitting speeds
of 190 mph in top gear. Turn 11 marks the hardest
braking point on the circuit with drivers experiencing
-3.8g. This was modified for the 1996 Grand Prix, from
the Casino Bend (Turn 12 and Turn 13) which used to be
a chicane, slowing the cars down into the final
straight. Now it is much shallower, with cars swinging
through it at around 60 mph before accelerating again
as they cross the Start-Finish line.
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