Fans at the Monaco Grand Prix were left gobsmacked ahead of FP1 on Friday with pints of beer costing £8.50 (€10) and salads coming with a £17 (€20) price tag. The race in Monte Carlo is the most glamorous in all of motorsport, but this comes with the downside of extremely high prices at the track.
At the breakfast bar in the Principality, fans could tuck into an omelette salad for £13 (€15) before washing it down with some fresh orange juice at a price of £6 (€7). At this particular spot, there were some more affordable options with an espresso and a croissant priced at a combined £5 (€6).
The lunch menu was somewhat less affordable. A cheeseburger with fries will set fans back £15 (€18), while chicken fingers with fries will cost £13 (€15). A side portion of chips at this particular venue costs an additional £4 (€5).
Alcohol was even more expensive at these locations. Alongside the aforementioned pint prices, fans were charged £13 for an Aperol Spritz, champagne, cocktails and mojitos. Glasses of wine (£8.50) and bottles of Desperados and Corona were slightly cheaper offerings at £8 (€9) a piece.
Despite these steep prices, this wasn’t the most expensive spot for fans to satisfy their nutritional needs. Alongside the £17 caesar salad, carpaccio was on the menu at a price of £20 (€23), and three different flavours of pizza were also available in exchange for £17.
The extortionate prices in Monaco will feel all too familiar after the food and drink costs at the Miami Grand Prix went viral for similar reasons. In the hospitality areas around the Miami International Autodrome, attendees were charged £224 ($280) for lobster rolls, and £232 ($290) for ‘U-5 chilled prawn’, served with mustard sauce and cocktail sauce.
On that occasion, the concerns were addressed, as Miami GP managing director Tom Garfinkel explained: “Somebody sent out a tweet the other day that showed a lobster roll was $280 and they sent it out without comment. And the context that wasn’t included is that it was for a suite. It was a lobster roll, for probably 10 people, for $280.”