Formula One Preview: Monaco Grand Prix
- Peter Johnson
- 3 minutes ago
- 8 min read
This week, Formula One heads to the glitziest and most glamorous venue of them all — the Principality of Monaco.
The circuit
It is notoriously difficult to overtake around Monaco, with three-time World Champion Nelson Piquet once comparing driving the circuit to “riding a bicycle around your living room”.
The 2024 edition of the storied race also made history for the wrong reason — it was the first F1 Grand Prix ever in which the top 10 drivers finished in the order they had started.
While the racing leaves something to be desired, the track is truly special. Not only is the circuit the narrowest on the calendar, but also the shortest. It sits in rare company alongside fellow icons Suzuka, Silverstone, Spa, Monza and Interlagos in having named corners rather than numbered corners.
The main “straight” is actually a rather aggressive curve to the right, with the sharp right-hander of Saint-Dévote the first of many pinch points around the 3.337 kilometre circuit.
The slalom up Beau Rivage to Massenet can also deliver chaos at the race start, like the 2024 incident between Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez that cost the latter driver’s Red Bull team around £2.5 million in damage.
The right-hander of Casino Square and the aggressive crest over a road junction complete the first sector, and the fun is only just starting.
Mirabeau is in fact a right-hander rather than a straight, and feeds the drivers into the slowest section of track on the entire F1 calendar. The cars drop to just 30mph while navigating the Fairmont Hairpin, which is so tight that teams bring a special steering rack just for this race.
Portier follows and next up is the tunnel, which has seen its fair share of accidents and near misses over the years. No sooner have the drivers’ eyes adapted to the relative darkness than they hit a blind right hander, just moments before being actually blinded by the sun and having to pick a braking point for the Nouvelle Chicane.
Tabac and the swimming pool complex follow, with some of the greatest shots of F1 cars coming as they slalom through the pair of chicanes.
The penultimate corner of the lap is the impossibly tight La Rascasse, where the necessity of braking in a straight line forces drivers to enter the corner sometimes at seemingly bizarre angles.
The right-handed Anthony Noghes completes the lap, and depending on whether it’s Saturday or Sunday you can either celebrate your work or look ahead to doing all of the above a further 77 times.
Storylines
Back to pure “racing” in Monte Carlo
In the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix, a red flag triggered by a Lap 1 pile-up involving Sergio Pérez and the two Haas cars opened up the opportunity for drivers to make their one mandatory pit stop at the end of the first lap.
The majority of the field neglected to stop again before the chequered flag, which did not contribute to the most thrilling spectacle.
In order to change things for 2025, the FIA mandated a minimum of two stops per driver. While the move was commendable in its attempt to promote harder racing, it actually contributed the opposite effect, with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Williams’ Carlos Sainz both driving incredibly slowly to back the pack up and allow their teammates up the road two free stops.
With one on-track overtake, the change, which was already widely perceived as a gimmick, was scrapped for this year. Therefore we’ll see the usual racing - or lack thereof - in 2026.
Ferrari favourites?
With Mercedes having won all five of this year’s Grands Prix from pole position, it is clear that the team has a fearsome car for every circuit. However, the unique demands of Monaco may prove to be a leveller.
Ferrari have been able to go toe-to-toe with Mercedes at times this season, most notably in Australia and China, when the Silver Arrows’ gains in a straight line were offset by the Scuderia’s cornering ability.
Mercedes’ engine advantage, while not insignificant, will be more minimal than anywhere else on the calendar this weekend. Whether Ferrari are able to overturn an average qualifying deficit of over half a second remains to be seen, but the opportunity is there.
Furthermore, the Prancing Horse boasts the only team made up of two former Monaco Grand Prix winners. Lewis Hamilton has claimed victory three times at the circuit (2008, 2016, 2019), while Charles Leclerc finally overcame his home hoodoo to win in 2024.
The pair are locked at 4-4 in all qualifying sessions this season, including sprints, so it is anyone’s guess as to who will be the lead Ferrari.
Will we see a one-off winner?
The stats suggest we could see an unusual winner in the Principality this weekend. No Grand Prix has crowned more different race winners than Monaco, with Lando Norris becoming the 38th victor in the 71st edition of the race last year.
Several drivers over the years have claimed their one and only Grand Prix victory in Monaco. Jean-Pierre Beltoise in 1972, Olivier Panis in 1996 and Jarno Trulli in 2004 claimed both their sole wins on the famous streets.
Moreover, we have seen seven different winners in the last eight Monaco Grands Prix, dating back to 2017, with Max Verstappen the only repeat victor. Among the top teams, neither Mercedes man has ever won here, nor has Oscar Piastri.
Of this year’s field, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar is perhaps best placed to claim a maiden victory, but it wouldn’t be unheard of to see somebody else further down the field spring an almighty surprise.
McLaren marks 1000th Grand Prix
Sixty years ago, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon entered the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix for McLaren-Ford. It was the first time ever that a car had driven in F1 under the McLaren name.
It was a weekend to forget in terms of results, with Amon withdrawing from the race before the start and McLaren retiring on the ninth lap of 100 with an oil leak. However, one of F1’s most legendary teams was born.
One thousand races, 13 drivers’ titles and 13 constructors’ titles later, McLaren returns to Monaco once more as holders of both championships. Across F1 history, only Ferrari can boast better numbers than those.
The team has announced a special livery to mark the occasion.
Mercedes pull out of Alpine talks
In more general F1 news, the biggest story to emerge since the Canadian Grand Prix is Mercedes’ withdrawal from talks to buy a minority share in Alpine.
Toto Wolff had agreed a deal in principle with Alpine owners Renault for the German car manufacturer to buy a 24% stake in the F1 team.
However, investment group Otro Capital, who currently own the stake that Wolff is trying to purchase, demanded a fee of £536 million ($720 million), which would have valued the Alpine F1 Team at £2.2 billion ($3 million).
Mercedes felt that a valuation of around £1.6 billion ($2.2 billion) would be a fair valuation for Alpine and it is understood that talks have ended as a result of this disagreement. Mercedes, for context, was valued at £4.6 billion ($6 billion) as recently as last November.
Past Monaco Grands Prix
Ayrton Senna is the King of Monaco, winning the event six times in seven years between 1987 and 1993. Graham Hill won the race five times (1963-5, 1968, 1969), as did Michael Schumacher (1994-5, 1997, 1999, 2001). More recently, 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg was often the man to beat, winning three times in a row between 2013 and 2015.
The key component of the Monaco Grand Prix, though, often comes on Saturday rather than Sunday. Given the astonishing sight of F1 drivers threading the needle through the Principality’s narrow streets, and Monaco’s status as the shortest circuit on the calendar, Qualifying generally delivers fireworks. You’re never further than a few inches from a barrier or a rival car, with a driver’s bravery and commitment often worth more in lap time than car performance.
While being visually stunning, Saturday’s Qualifying hour is also one of the most crucial sessions of the season. In 71 previous Monaco Grands Prix, 33 have been won from pole position, including each of the last three races.
If it doesn’t go to plan on Saturday and you can keep your nose clean in the race, though, there may be an opportunity to pick up a decent result from further back on the grid. Just ask Olivier Panis, who took his only ever Formula One victory around Monaco in 1996, from 14th on the grid, but one of just three drivers to see the chequered flag.
Such is the unpredictability of Monaco, you can have an accident and still claim victory, as Lewis Hamilton did for McLaren in 2008. The young Briton suffered a puncture following contact with the barriers on Lap 6, but still romped home to win.
Despite these momentous feats, it does still very much pay to qualify near the front in the Principality. Since Panis’ famous victory, every single winner in Monaco has started the race from inside the top three, while the race has been won from the front row 51 times.
Only three drivers have ever won having started outside of the top five. Meanwhile, the top three have finished in the order they started in each of the last three years.
Of the current field, Hamilton has won three times in Monaco (2008, 2016, 2019), while Fernando Alonso (2006-07) and Verstappen (2021, 2023) have taken the chequered flag twice. Leclerc (2024) and Norris (2025) have also tasted victory in the Principality.
Drivers to watch
Kimi Antonelli
It is hard to look past Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli as the favourite for this weekend’s Grand Prix. The Italian has won each of the last four races, three of them from pole, and with no small amount of good fortune on his side leads George Russell by 43 points in the drivers’ standings.
A fourth pole position of the season would set Antonelli up beautifully for victory, but if he has another of his customary poor starts he will not necessarily reclaim his lost positions as easily as usual.
Charles Leclerc
Until his victory in 2024, Leclerc famously suffered terrible luck whenever he returned to Monaco.
In 2017, he did not complete either the Formula 2 Feature or Sprint Race. He then failed to finish his first two Monaco Grands Prix, while he didn’t even start the race in 2021 despite claiming pole. Only in his fifth season in Formula One did he finally see the chequered flag in the Principality, bringing home a fourth-placed finish in 2022.
Things have looked better for Leclerc on home soil in recent years though, following his 2024 triumph with second place last season.
Lewis Hamilton
While still without a victory for Ferrari, it is an inescapable truth that Hamilton is in the best form we have seen from him for quite some time.
Two podium finishes from five races this season leave the Brit just three points shy of teammate Leclerc, while he has matched the Monégasque over one lap too, with the pair tied at 4-4 in all qualifying sessions in 2026 (including sprints).
No other current driver has tasted success as frequently in Monaco as Hamilton has, although there have been four different winners since his most recent triumph here seven years ago.
That first victory in red is coming, and if Ferrari can indeed take the fight to Mercedes this weekend, the seven-time world champion is every bit as capable as Leclerc of taking full advantage.
Session start times (BST)
Practice 1: Fri 12:30-13:30
Practice 2: Fri 16:00-17:00
Practice 3: Sat 11:30-12:30
Qualifying: Sat 15:00-16:00
Race: Sun 14:00
Edited by Morgan Holiday
