Grand Prix Cruise Holidays
Grand Prix Cruise Holidays
Want something a little high-octane to go alongside that serene cruise? Combine edge-of-your-seat with sand-at-your-feet thanks to our full-throttle Grand Prix cruises.
With our great value Smart Packages, we’ll throw in tickets to Formula One’s premier calendar event as part of your holiday. Once you’re docked, speed over to the circuit for a day at the races that’s sure to get any petrolhead’s engine running.
Where do you fancy? With a selection of Grand Prix packages available, you can watch all the action in the likes of Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Melbourne, Shanghai, Monte Carlo or Barcelona before enjoying the rest of your cruise.
From High-Octane Thrills to Jet-Set Glamour: Introducing the Grand Prix
Before you race off to book your Grand Prix holiday, let’s get you into gear with a little Grand Prix history. We’ll keep things brief, otherwise we’d be here all day. Nevertheless, here are the instances and incidents that have defined how Grand Prix came to be...
The Grand Prix has its roots in newspaper owner James Gordon Bennet Jr, who established the Gordon Bennett Cup in Europe in 1900, an annual race that brought in drivers from all over the world, with each country allowed to enter up to three cars.
Inspired by the Gordon Bennett Cup, and other similar races that popped up across the US, the first race to carry the Grand Prix name was organised by the Automobile Club de France in 1906. Running over two days in June, the race consisted of six 65-mile laps, each of which took an hour to complete due to the primitive form and function of cars back then. Of the 32 entries, Hungarian Ferenc Szisz won the race in his Renault.
It’s worth noting that all competing cars also had a mechanic on board. Only the mechanics and the driver themselves were allowed to work on the cars during the race. Good news, since the roads were also incredibly bumpy, and wheel repairs were a regular occurrence.
Similar races would then take place in the likes of Brooklands, England; Indianapolis, USA; and Monza, Italy. Though using the Grand Prix name, these were not part of a formal championship.
This changed in 1924 when a series of national motor clubs joined forces to form the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR). The number of races bearing the Grand Prix name skyrocketed, going from five events in 1927 to eighteen in 1934.
In 1933, the Monaco Grand Prix saw the starting grid determined by timed qualifiers instead of being randomly selected. Competing vehicles were also painted in international Formula One colours.
A formalised Grand Prix consisting of races in a number of countries became an institution in 1935 and were held every year until the onset of WWII in 1939.
Following the War, only four races with the Grand Prix name were held. It’s here that rules for a Grand Prix World Championship began to take shape.
At the end of the 1949 season, it was announced that going forward several national Grand Prix would be combined. This marked the start of Formula One as we know it today.
In 1950, the first World Championship race was held on 13 May at the UK’s Silverstone racetrack.
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