Circuit de Monaco

Circuit de Monaco is arguably the most famous track in the world of motorsport, hence its common nickname the “crown jewels of Formula 1”.

It is the race young drivers dream of winning, a stunning venue like none other and one which provides such a unique challenge given the closeness of the barriers.

Racing in the streets of Monaco dates back to 1929, so the principality has been a motorsport staple for almost a century and provided many iconic moments like Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna’s tense battle in 1992. Monaco is therefore part of the motorsport triple crown alongside Le Mans 24 Hours and Indianapolis 500 where Graham Hill is the only driver to have won all three races.

The circuit is used annually on three weekends across April and May for the Monaco E-Prix, Historic Grand Prix of Monaco and the Monaco GP, which also has various support races that weekend.

Circuit de Monaco layout

Monaco is a 19-turn street circuit which boasts a beautiful backdrop as it runs along the French Riviera with stunning areas like the swimming pool section and historic Grand Hotel Hairpin. It is the shortest track on the F1 calendar with a lap equalling 2.074miles where Max Verstappen set a pole time of 1m11.365s in 2023.

The lap begins with a short sprint to the right-handed Sainte Devote, which leads drivers to the uphill Beau Rivage ahead of the left-handed Turn 3 bend. This is where drivers then go through the casino section before entering a very tight and twisty sector two which begins with the Mirabeau hairpin at Turn 5 before another one at the following corner.

This is the downhill Grand Hotel Hairpin which is the slowest corner in F1 as drivers navigate it at around 30mph, but is also Monaco’s prime - or only - spot to overtake. Two low-speed right-handers then take drivers into the famous Monaco Tunnel, which features a very fast right kink that is taken flat out before slowing significantly for the Turns 10 and 11 chicane out of the tunnel.

A left-handed Turn 12 then takes drivers into a faster chicane to end sector two before another chicane at Turns 15 and 16. La Rascasse then takes drivers into the final two corners which are very tight and come in quick succession ahead of the pit straight.

Monaco is one of just three circuits on the F1 calendar to only have one DRS zone - after Imola and Suzuka - which is along the pit straight. However, this has drawn criticism over the years because the circuit’s nature means overtaking is very difficult and the race itself can often be a procession where the best chance of moving up the order is through strategy in the pit-stops.

1920s

In 1925 the Automobile Club de Monaco applied to be upgraded from a regional French club to national status, but that application was rejected by the Association Internationale des Automobiles Clubs Reconnus (AIACR), then governing body of motor racing, because of the lack of motorsport in the principality.

Although the Monte Carlo Rally was already held annually, much of the route was on French territory so the principality needed something that was exclusively within its borders. The idea of a grand prix on the principality’s streets was subsequently proposed and once the project was approved, the inaugural Monaco GP happened in 1929.

The 1929 Monaco GP was a non-championship, invitation-only event where 16 drivers took part in the race. It was won by Briton William Grover-Williams by an emphatic 1m17.8s, where he was one of six Bugatti cars in the top seven and even back then, the circuit layout was quite similar to it is now with Sainte Devote, the tunnel, casino section and Grand Hotel Hairpin all being used in 1929 as they are in the present day.

1930s

Due to the success of the inaugural Monaco GP, the event continued into the 1930s where Bugatti showed early dominance by winning three, consecutive races. The third, 1931, was won by Louis Chiron who today remains the only Monegasque to win the grand prix.

Alfa Romeo then ended Bugatti’s run before the squad won a fourth Monaco GP in five years in 1933. The 1933 Monaco GP was also the first to have its grid decided by practice time rather than the established ballot method, where names were drawn at random. It saw Achille Varzi win from pole position after a race-long battle with Tazio Nuvolari, whose car caught fire on the final lap due to over-revving.

The Monaco GP’s next big change came in 1936 where it was added to the new European Championship calendar, with the season’s opening round being won by Rudolf Caracciola which made it back-to-back victories for Mercedes in the principality. The German squad made it three, straight wins in 1937, however that proved to be the final Monaco GP for 11 years due to the outbreak of World War 2.

1940s

Post-war European racing started in September 1945, however the return of the Monaco GP was delayed until 1948 for financial reasons. For its return, the 1948 Monaco GP was held under a new formula where cars were either one and a half litre supercharged or four and a half litres naturally aspirated.

Future F1 world champion Giuseppe Farina won that year’s grand prix from pole position having crossed the line 35.2 seconds ahead of runner-up Chiron, with the rest of the finishers over two laps behind the winner. However, the 1948 Monaco GP was the only edition of the 1940s because the 1949 event was cancelled due to the death of Prince Louis II.

1950s

The Monaco GP returned in 1950, as part of the new F1 world championship which debuted that year. Monaco was the season’s second round and it saw the future five-time F1 world champion Juan Manuel Fangio win his first world championship race. The Alfa Romeo driver was dominant having started from pole position before crossing the finish line a lap ahead of Alberto Ascari’s Ferrari in second.

But, at the time the Monaco GP was a very on-and-off event because the race was not held in 1951 due to financial concerns and a lack of regulations in F1. Trouble continued into 1952 where, although the Monaco GP returned, F1 was run to F2 regulations following the withdrawal of world champions Alfa Romeo so the Automobile Club de Monaco was not interested in the series that year.

As a result, the 1952 Monaco GP was a non-championship race held to sports car regulations but the event was marred by Luigi Fagioli’s crash in practice, which ultimately proved fatal a few weeks later.

The Monaco GP was absent again in 1953 and ’54 due to international car regulations not yet being finalised. But, come 1955 the Monaco GP was finally back on the F1 calendar and it started a streak of 64 consecutive years for the race in the series.

Ferrari’s Maurice Trintignant won on Monaco’s return to F1, before Stirling Moss claimed his debut victory in the principality a year later. It was not until 1957 that the Monaco GP finally featured a double winner, as Fangio once again won from pole position in his Maserati.

1960s

Moss surpassed Fangio’s feat by becoming the Monaco GP’s first three-time winner having won the opening two races of the 1960s. His 1960 victory was arguably Moss’ most dominant as the then Lotus driver took pole position by one second before crossing the finish line 52.1 seconds ahead of runner-up Bruce McLaren, who finally won the Monaco GP in 1962.

However, it was not long until Moss’ achievements in the principality were inevitably passed as the 1960s was the decade which dubbed Hill as ‘Mr Monaco’, after he won the grand prix five times across ’63 to ’69 with his victory in ’68 contributing to a second world title.

Quite fittingly, Hill’s last F1 race win came in Monaco where he profited from a good start and Jackie Stewart’s retirement to win the 1969 grand prix from fourth on the grid.

1970s

The 1970s saw various safety improvements thanks to the tireless campaigns of Stewart. In its early editions, Circuit de Monaco did not really have any barriers so drivers crashed into whatever was next to the principality’s everyday roads - a lamp post or tree for example - but that all changed in the early ‘70s.

By the time of the 1972 Monaco GP, the circuit was almost completely covered in Armco barriers while that year the track was modified for the first time in its history as the chicane moved closer to the Tabac curve ahead of major changes a year later.

The tunnel was one of the parts to be modified as its length was increased for 1973, while the final sector saw the addition of La Rascasse as Monaco’s penultimate corner.

Meanwhile, the swimming pool section was added following the construction of the Rainier III Nautical Stadium, which featured a double chicane. However, the changes did not end there because for 1976 Sainte Devote was made slower, while a chicane was added right before the main straight which helped reduce lap times by around three seconds.

There were similar names still at the top though, as Niki Lauda secured back-to-back victories in 1976 while Jody Scheckter matched him for two victories in Monaco in ’77 and ’79.

1980s

A new ‘King of Monaco’ arrived in the 1980s, which coincided with the dominance of bitter rivals Senna and Alain Prost who won 10 straight Monaco GPs between them.

It started with Prost winning the extremely wet 1984 race, which was a sign of things to come that decade. Pole sitter Prost kept his lead into Turn 1, while chaos descended behind as Rene Arnoux, Derek Warwick and Patrick Tambay all crashed at Sainte Devote which aided the race of then rookie Senna, who that day displayed his excellence in rainy conditions and announced himself as a future star.

The Toleman driver started the grand prix in thirteenth, but Senna was up to second by lap 19 in an uncompetitive car with only Prost ahead.

Senna then started closing on Prost, who was having trouble with brake imbalance, only for the race to be stopped prematurely on lap 31 due to poor weather conditions. So, this controversially gave Prost the victory while Senna in second achieved the maiden F1 fastest lap of his career.

Prost then made it three consecutive Monaco victories in 1986, before Senna won his maiden race in the principality in ’87 after crossing the finish line 33 seconds ahead of runner-up Nelson Piquet.

However, the following year Prost scored a fourth victory in Monaco but that proved to be his final as Senna suddenly became a match for no one in the streets of the principality. In 1989, Senna began a streak of five consecutive Monaco GP wins with an emphatic victory where he won from pole and finished 53 seconds ahead of Prost, who just could not cope with his McLaren team-mate that weekend.

1990s

Senna’s dominance continued into the 1990s where in ’92 he matched Hill for five Monaco GP victories. This was done with arguably Senna’s most iconic win there, as he duelled with Mansell for the final three laps and the McLaren driver miraculously kept that year’s champion behind him to take victory by 0.2 seconds.

The Brazilian then claimed the outright record in 1993 after dominating that year’s race as Senna claimed victory by 52 seconds.

However, that proved to be Senna’s final Monaco GP as he died before the next one. The 1994 Monaco GP was F1’s first grand prix since Senna’s crash at Imola and emotions were inevitably high as drivers all paid tribute to the triple world champion on the grid pre-race.

Michael Schumacher later claimed his maiden Monaco GP victory that day, but it was marred by Karl Wendlinger’s crash in the tunnel which put the Sauber driver into a coma - however, he fortunately survived.

The win started a dominant period for Schumacher in the principality as he ended the 1990s with four Monaco GP victories, while Olivier Panis and Mika Hakkinen both stood on the top step in that decade as well. 

Meanwhile, 1997 featured the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco’s debut which was done to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the Grimaldi Family presiding over Monaco. Several historic races were held in Monaco on the opening weekend of May, which included grand prix cars that dated back to the 1930s.

Amongst the big names was Moss, who drove a Maserati Tipo 61 in the pre-1960 sports cars race. The Historic Grand Prix of Monaco proved to be a big success and even though it was supposed to be a one-off, the event returned a few years later.

2000s

The Historic Grand Prix of Monaco returned in 2000 and from that year it became a bi-annual event. In the more modern-day racing, Schumacher matched Hill for five Monaco GP victories in 2001, while he drew criticism five years later for stopping at the Rascasse hairpin which helped give the seven-time world champion provisional pole position as other drivers had to abort their final qualifying lap.

Although Schumacher claimed it was the result of a genuine car failure, the FIA disagreed and penalised the Ferrari driver with a pit lane start. As a result, his championship rival Fernando Alonso won the 2006 Monaco GP while that year a young Lewis Hamilton won GP2’s race in the principality.

It would not take long for Hamilton to win the Monaco GP either, as the Briton won the event in wet conditions in just his second F1 season before Jenson Button was the final Monaco GP victor of the 2000s in a Brawn 1-2.

2010s

The 2010s started brilliantly for Circuit de Monaco, as it signed a new 10-year deal to stay on the F1 calendar. However, it was also the decade that another single-seater championship came to the principality, as Monaco made its debut on the Formula E calendar in 2015 where drivers raced a shortened version of the track which omitted parts like the tunnel and casino section.

Sebastian Buemi sealed the first of his two Monaco E-Prix victories that year, while Lucas di Grassi and Nelson Piquet Jr joined the Swiss on the podium.

This was amid Mercedes dominance in the Monaco GP, as the German manufacturer claimed four straight victories from 2013 to 2016, including three-in-a-row for Nico Rosberg.

However, the last of those four wins, 2016, came to the huge dismay of Daniel Ricciardo where a botched pit-stop from Red Bull, who did not have its proper tyres prepared, cost him the victory to Hamilton.

Ricciardo did get redemption two years later though, but again that came in dramatic circumstances. The Red Bull driver led from pole into Turn 1 and, like 2016, everything seemed to be going plain sailing until an MGU-K failure stuck on lap 28.

It caused Ricciardo to drive the remaining 50 laps with 25% less horsepower, yet he somehow kept Vettel behind to finally win the Monaco GP before Hamilton sealed a third victory in 2019.

2020s

The 2020s started very worryingly with the outbreak of COVID-19. The pandemic caused F1 to reshuffle its calendar for 2020 and it did not include the Monaco GP because the race can only be held in May while the delayed season began in July.

It returned for 2021 where Verstappen won his maiden Monaco GP amid a legendary championship fight with Hamilton, who finished a costly seventh that day. The Monaco E-Prix also returned in 2021, as did the historic grand prix which had since become a much bigger event with an increased number of races since its inaugural running.

The 2022 Monaco GP was quite controversial as it had a rolling start after a 65-minute delay due to heavy rain. Charles Leclerc started on pole position for his home race but the wait for another Monegasque winner in the principality continued as poor strategy from Ferrari - who pitted its driver twice within four laps - aided Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who took the lead after the pit-stop window before claiming his maiden Monaco GP victory.

Later that year, Monaco signed a contract to remain on the F1 calendar until at least 2025. The first race of that new deal saw Red Bull win three Monaco GPs in-a-row, as world champion Verstappen continued his dominant season to claim a second victory in the principality.