Two jewels in the crown
At first sight, you wouldn't think a slow, narrow, twisty street circuit, less than four kilometres in length, running through the streets of a small European Principality on the Mediterranean coast would have much in common with a four corner two and a half mile oval on the outskirts of a city slap bang in the middle of the United States. But there are three things that link the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 Miles and they are prestige, their date and the fact that they are two thirds of what is considered motorsport's triple crown, along with the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Once again, Monaco and Indy take place on the same weekend, which is down to their dates being fixed on the calendar. The Formula 1 event always takes place on the weekend following the religious festival of Ascension Day, while the Indy race is always held over the Memorial Day weekend when Americans remember those who have fallen in service to their country.
In the past, the date clash forced some drivers to make difficult choices, as was the case in 1965, when Jim Clark opted to miss Monaco to try and win the Indy 500 in a Lotus, which he succeeded in doing. More recently, in 2017, Fernando Alonso had a far less successful attempt to make his mark in America in a McLaren. And yet, from 1950 to 1960, both races were part of the Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship. However, back then, it was very rare for European teams to try their luck across the pond, so you can really count on the fingers of both hands the number of Formula 1 drivers who have raced in the Indy 500 and the American drivers who have raced in Grands Prix in Europe.
The fact that the Indianapolis 500 was considered part of the F1 series in that decade also explains why there are so many names that European fans have never heard of on the list of drivers who have won at least one Grand Prix, as these are the ten winners of the eleven Indianapolis 500 Miles held between 1950 and 1960. It also explains why the USA tops the list of the countries that have had the most drivers racing in Formula 1, 173 no less. Just one of them, Bill Vukovich won Indy twice.
Then, as mentioned earlier, this weekend's two races also form part of what is called the Triple Crown, a name borrowed from horse racing, along with the world's most famous sports car endurance race, the Le Mans 24 Hours which takes place in June. To date, only one driver has claimed that crown by winning all three events and he is Graham Hill. The Englishman won Monaco no fewer than five times, from 1963 to 1965 and then in 1968 and 1969, a record only beaten by Ayrton Senna who won six times in the Principality. Hill won Indy in 1966 and Le Mans in 1972. Seven drivers, have won two of these three events and they are Tazio Nuvolari, Maurice Trintignant, A. J. Foyt, Bruce McLaren, Jochen Rindt, Juan Pablo Montoya and Fernando Alonso. The only one of these who is still in with a chance of putting his name on the crown alongside Hill's is Alonso, with two wins in Monaco and Le Mans and knowing his sense of determination and love of a challenge, it's quite possible that, once his F1 adventure with Aston Martin is over, one more go at the triple, by trying for an Indy 500 win would definitely appeal to his winner's mentality.
