Monaco Grand Prix

The Monaco Grand Prix is run on public roads through Monte-Carlo and La Condamine, closed for the event and reopened afterwards. The layout has changed little since the first race in 1929. It is the slowest circuit in Formula One, the narrowest, and the one where overtaking is close to impossible, which is why it remains the race drivers most want to win.

Origin

  • Antony Noghès, son of the president of the Automobile Club de Monaco, proposed the race so the club could gain full national standing with the international motoring body
  • The first Monaco Grand Prix ran on 14 April 1929
  • William Grover-Williams won it in a Bugatti, entered under the pseudonym Williams
  • The event became part of the Formula One World Championship at its second season, in 1950
  • The final corner of the circuit carries Noghès's name

The circuit

  • Length is roughly 3.34 kilometres, the shortest on the calendar
  • The race runs 78 laps, and is the only round shortened from the standard race distance because of the low average speed
  • Elevation change across the lap is about 42 metres
  • The circuit runs clockwise, from the start on the harbour front up the hill to Casino Square, back down to the waterfront, through the tunnel, along the harbour and back to the line

The corners

  • Sainte Dévote. The right-hander at the bottom of the hill, named after the church beside it. First-lap incidents concentrate here
  • Beau Rivage. The climb up Avenue d'Ostende
  • Massenet and Casino. Past the Casino de Monte-Carlo and the Hôtel de Paris, blind on exit
  • Mirabeau and the Grand Hotel Hairpin. The slowest corner in Formula One, taken at around 45 km/h, requiring the tightest steering lock on the calendar. It was called the Loews Hairpin and then the Fairmont Hairpin as the hotel changed name
  • Portier. The right-hander onto the waterfront, and the entry to the tunnel
  • The Tunnel. Runs beneath the Fairmont hotel. Cars pass from daylight into artificial light and back at high speed, and the change is the most difficult adaptation on the lap
  • Nouvelle Chicane. The heaviest braking point, at the tunnel exit
  • Tabac. A fast left along the harbour
  • Swimming Pool. The sequence around the Rainier III Nautical Stadium, fast and lined with barriers
  • La Rascasse. Named after the restaurant on the corner
  • Anthony Noghès. The final right-hander onto the start-finish straight

Why it is different

  • Barriers line the whole circuit, so there is no run-off. A mistake ends the session
  • The track is narrower than the modern car, in effect, and overtaking is rare enough to be remarked on
  • Qualifying position is the strongest predictor of the result at Monaco, more than at any other round
  • The safety car is deployed more often here than anywhere else, because a stopped car cannot be cleared without stopping the race
  • Cars run maximum downforce and the softest tyre compounds, settings used nowhere else on the calendar
  • The surface is ordinary public road, with painted markings, drain covers and camber built for traffic rather than racing

Building and removing the circuit

  • Construction takes roughly six weeks before the event
  • Around 20 kilometres of barriers and several thousand tonnes of grandstand structure are installed
  • Removal takes about three weeks afterwards
  • The roads carry normal traffic for the rest of the year, and the lap can be walked or driven any day. See visiting Monaco

Records and notable results

  • Ayrton Senna won at Monaco six times, more than any other driver, including five consecutive wins from 1989 to 1993
  • Graham Hill won five times and was known as Mr Monaco
  • Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost each won four times
  • McLaren holds the most constructor wins
  • Louis Chiron, in 1931, remains the only Monégasque driver to have won the race. Charles Leclerc, born in Monaco, won it in 2024, ending a long local wait
  • Olivier Panis won in 1996 in a race that finished with three classified cars, the fewest in the modern era

The event beyond the race

  • The Grand Prix normally runs in late May, over a weekend
  • Practice traditionally began on the Thursday rather than the Friday, leaving the Friday clear, though the schedule has been aligned with other rounds in recent seasons
  • Support races include Formula 2, Formula 3 and the Porsche Supercup
  • Yachts moor in Port Hercule with a direct view of the circuit, and harbour berths for the weekend are among the most expensive vantage points in sport
  • Apartments and balconies overlooking the track are let for the weekend at rates far above the normal market
  • Accommodation across Monaco and the neighbouring French towns is booked many months ahead, and prices rise sharply. See the French Riviera

Other motorsport in Monaco

  • Monaco ePrix. Formula E has raced in Monaco since 2015, initially on a shortened layout and later on the full circuit
  • Rallye Monte-Carlo. Founded in 1911 and part of the World Rally Championship, run in January on Alpine roads inland rather than in the Principality, and finishing in Monaco
  • Grand Prix de Monaco Historique. Run every two years on the same circuit with historic cars, in the weeks before the Grand Prix
  • Automobile Club de Monaco. Organises all of them

Why it stays on the calendar

  • The circuit fails most modern Formula One safety and facility standards and is retained by exception
  • Formula One racing is measured against a set of three events sometimes counted as motorsport's triple crown, alongside the Indianapolis 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hours, and Monaco is the Formula One entry
  • Television framing of the harbour and the tunnel is the most recognisable image the sport produces
  • The event supports a substantial share of Monaco's tourism revenue in a single week. See Monaco economy

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