The Monaco Grand Prix may not be the most popular F1 race among fans but its glamour is unmatched, and a key reason it’s been an almost constant staple on the F1 calendar.

The Monaco Grand Prix was first held in the championship’s first year in 1950 and has since held 72 editions.

You would think that a circuit so dependent on street roads has little flexibility to change its layout, but there are quite a few differences between today’s track and the one that first appeared in 1950.

This includes the changing of the start-line, the Rascasse corner, the added swimming pool section, the chicane coming out of the tunnel, and even the tunnel itself.

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Ocean’s 11 sequel hits 1960s Monaco

But at the end of August, Monaco was taken back to the 1960s as part of filming for the Ocean’s Eleven prequel, starring Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper and is set to be released next year.

The Warner Bros production, that has a working title of Sandcastles was in the Principality until Friday 28th August, filming at iconic F1 locations including the harbour at Port Hercule and Portier, the corner just before the drivers enter the tunnel on the race track.

This isn’t just a tenuous link to F1 though, the major heist from the film takes place during the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix.

Released footage shows classic F1 cars going through bygone layouts of the track, complete with the outdated safety measures at the time including haybales for barriers.

Curiously one captured fan footage showed classic F1 cars racing around the Grand Hotel hairpin in the opposite direction to the real circuit, which seems a strange bit of detail to get wrong – but then that’s Hollywood for you I guess.

Won won the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix?

Bruce McLaren won racing a Cooper Climax, having taken the lead late in the race from Graham Hill, whose BRM engine expired with just eight laps of the 100-lap race to go. Hill though would still be classified in sixth to gain a point.

Lotus’s Jim Clark took his first ever pole position but he too retired 55 laps into the race with a clutch issue. Making up the podium behind McLaren were Ferrari duo Phil Hill, the defending world champion, and Lorenzo Bandini.

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F1 star Kimi Antonelli is set to feature in an iconic Disney comic book ahead of next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, it has been revealed.

Antonelli has been the star of the F1 2026 season so far, currently topping the drivers’ standings heading to Monza and on track to become the youngest world champion the sport has ever seen.

The 20-year-old’s first home race resulted in a ninth-place finish in 2025, but in 2026, he has a realistic shot at winning, which would delight the Italian crowd.

Antonelli would become the first Italian in 60 years to win the Italian Grand Prix if he pulls it off, with the last driver to have done so being Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966 for Ferrari.

However, off the track, he’s involved in something that carries a lot less pressure, featuring alongside Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in the Italian Disney comic book Topolino!

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Kimi Antonelli set to feature in Disney comic book

Topolino is a famous Italian Disney comic book that began being published all the way back in 1932. Its name literally translates to ‘little mouse’, and that is also the Italian name for Mickey Mouse.

As such, the comic book is based on Disney characters, but ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Antonelli will feature in its pages.

As per Corriere Della Sera, the Mercedes star has been turned into a new character, Kimi Paperelli (essentially Kimi Duckonelli in English), and is set to star in four of the five chapters of stories revolving around the upcoming race in Italy.

“Topolino was the magazine of my childhood, and I’m happy to find myself back in its pages today,” Antonelli said, via the Italian publication.

“If I really lived in Duckburg, I’d ride with Donald Duck in his legendary 313, because it’s a car I really like: it’s sporty, it has a character all its own. And I adore Donald Duck, I’m too fond of him.”

More Disney at Italian GP

This isn’t the only Disney-related thing going on around the Italian Grand Prix, either.

F1 and Disney recently confirmed an extension to their “Fuel the Magic” collaboration, and it involves Cars character Lightning McQueen making an appearance at Monza.

The exact capacity in which McQueen appears remains to be seen. However, merch featuring the iconic Cars character has him with safety car lights fitted on his roof.

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Former racing star Ralf Schumacher has claimed that Audi is in ‘crisis’ and that the mood could turn on their F1 investment if the team doesn’t improve their fortunes quickly.

Audi officially joined the F1 grid in 2026, but made their commitment to the sport back in 2022, taking over chunks of Sauber before a full acquisition in 2024 and a full rebrand for this season.

Taking over at Sauber and producing their own engine means that the brand has already made significant investment, and more will be required if they are to meet their publicly stated ambition of challenging for an F1 title by 2030.

Schumacher, though, has warned that 2030 could come too late, with his ‘crisis’ comment likely pointing to declining sales and revenue in the first half of 2026.

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Ralf Schumacher’s bleak Audi warning

The Brand Group Progressive, which incorporates Audi, Lamborghini and Bentley, revealed that they delivered 7.2 per cent fewer cars in the first half of 2026 compared to 2025, with sales revenues (€29.2bn) also falling by 10.4 per cent.

The numbers are still substantial, but the group has also seen its operating profit decline in recent years, from €6.280bn in 2023 to €3.371bn in 2025.

Asked about the situation at Audi by BILD, Schumacher said: “I was very happy for Nico that he scored his first points before the summer break. But Audi needs to do more than just send a signal to its own company.

“They’re currently in crisis, and I think the racing team needs to show some success so that the mood at Audi doesn’t turn against their Formula 1 investment.

“Aiming for the World Championship in 2030 – that could be too late. Success needs to come sooner.”

Audi’s 2026 so far

Audi are a long way from challenging for titles at present, with the team currently sitting eighth in the F1 constructors’ standings at this stage of the season.

The team could realistically still finish as the seventh-best constructor this year, with Haas just five points ahead. But with Williams only five behind and a rejuvenated Aston Martin, finishing as low as 10th is also a possibility.

To be clear, Audi are doing just fine for a new team that has just introduced its own works engine for the first time.

However, Schumacher’s comments suggest that the need for success is far more pressing than the 2030 timeline would make you believe, and that the team needs to start taking steps towards that sooner rather than later.

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