This weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix is the most elegant, sophisticated and archaic race in motor sports.  Having 220mph cars careening around a twisty circuit with but a 500 meter stretch of full throttle (through the tunnel) is hardly what these machines are really made for doing. But as this post by Brad Spurgeon of the New York Times notes, the race is a throwback as well to an era — now long gone — when men mattered more than designers and engineers.

It is well known that Monaco is one circuit where the driver can make a difference. That is to say, if at most of the high-speed circuits of the Formula One calendar the car accounts for 95 percent of the lap time and the driver’s skill accounts for the other 5 percent, at Monaco the driver might account for a larger percentage of what will make a car do a good lap.

Formula One Blog | NYTimes.com. As Jenson Button said, “To take an F1 car with 800 horsepower around these streets is crazy. You have to tame it. Coming out the tunnel at 180mph into that little, tiny chicane is crazy, but great. You are always rubbing barriers. There is no room for mistakes. When you do a quick lap around here it means so much to you because you know how difficult it is.”

So let’s celebrate the history of Formula One with a great race on Sunday, boys!