WATCH: Citroën Ami rounds Monaco’s famous hairpin the wrong way

Due host the seventh round of this year Formula 1 world championship in May, the famous hairpin on the Monaco street circuit, known for years as the Loews Hairpin in reference to the Loews Hotel, now the Fairmont, added another victim to its count this past weekend, albeit for the most unusual way possible.

Watch rollover below

First time lucky…

One of the slowest corners on the iconic street circuit, an extended video posted on YouTube sees the driver of an all-electric Citroën Ami quadricycle attempting a fast rounding of the corner, coming from the opposite direction of turn known as Portier during the race.

With tyres screeching, the Ami, which produces six kilowatts, has a claimed range of 75km and weighs less than 500kg without any passengers, rounds the corner with inside wheels appearing to momentarily lift from the ground.

And not so lucky the second time

Seemingly unsatisfied and wanting to extract the maximum from the tiny “car”, the driver is then seen coming down the hill towards the hairpin as the F1 cars would approach it.

Matters don’t go so well though as the apparent faster speed entrances sees the Ami going onto two wheels and rolling over, fortunately missing the pedestrians on the sidewalk after smashing into a pair of bollards.

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In a secondary video posted on social media soon after, the accident appears scarier as without the metal bollards, the Ami could well have crashed into the smartphone wielding onlooker as the clip shows.

Supposedly, neither the driver nor passengers were hurt, although the Citroën is likely to be declared a write-off in spite of the damage appearing outwardly small.

Quadricycles rules

The incident has, however, resulted in questions being asked of quadricycles that don’t require a full driving licence in France, but need to be driven by someone aged 14 years and older, and with a valid roadworthy certificate when producing more than four kilowatts.

While the age of the driver wasn’t disclosed, it is unlikely that much happiness would have played out on the face of the Ami’s owner had the individual behind the wheel not been the one who signed on the dotted line.

Secondary video of the impact

Over to Monaco🇲🇨 where we have exclusive footage of bollards saving lives.#WorldBollardAssociation
pic.twitter.com/ESfwsI3EId

— World Bollard Association™ (@WorldBollard) March 12, 2023