49 Fun Facts About Monaco Grand Prix

Which make of car won four of the first five Monaco Grands Prix?

Bugatti. Half of the twenty cars invited to the first race, in 1929, were Bugattis, nimble enough on the tight streets to beat a 7-litre German sports car that lost minutes at its pit stop.

Which founder of the Monaco Grand Prix, first run in 1929, gives his name to the circuit's final corner?

Antony Noghès. Motorsport's governing body had refused his club recognition because none of its events ran inside Monaco, so he mapped out a race through the streets themselves.

The first Monaco Grand Prix in 1929 was won by a driver entered under a one-word pseudonym; who was he?

William Grover-Williams, entered simply as 'Williams'. In the Second World War he parachuted back into France as a British agent, was arrested in 1943 and was executed in 1945.

Which Monégasque driver won his home Grand Prix in 1931 and remained Monaco's only winner for 93 years?

Louis Chiron. He had backed the plan for a street race, yet he missed the very first one in 1929 because he had entered the Indianapolis 500 instead.

The 1933 Monaco Grand Prix was the first Grand Prix to set the grid by what method?

Practice times. Until then starting places were drawn by lot; in the race Nuvolari's Alfa caught fire on the last lap and he was disqualified when onlookers helped him push it.

Which driver lived up to his nickname 'Regenmeister' by winning the rain-soaked 1936 Monaco Grand Prix?

Rudolf Caracciola. An Alfa Romeo leaking oil on the opening lap turned the wet chicane into a trap, and the spill cost five rivals their race, three of them his own team-mates.

Who took his first World Championship win at Monaco in 1950, the race's first year in the championship?

Juan Manuel Fangio. Sea water soaked Tabac corner on the first lap and nine cars piled up behind him; he picked his way through the wreckage next time round and won by a full lap.

Which driver plunged into the harbour at the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix and had to swim to safety?

Alberto Ascari. His Lancia went through the hay bales and sandbags at the chicane and sank; he got out, but four days later he was killed testing a sports car at Monza.

Two cars from which dominant team broke down while leading the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix, handing victory to a Ferrari?

Mercedes. One leader broke its transmission and the next its engine, so Maurice Trintignant came through from ninth on the grid as the first Frenchman to win a championship Grand Prix.

Who beat three works Ferraris to win the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix in a year-old privately entered Lotus?

Stirling Moss. Well down on power against the new Ferraris, he took the lead on lap 14, was hounded to the flag and still won by 3.6 seconds.

Graham Hill's first Monaco win, in 1963, came when which leader's gearbox seized with 22 laps left?

Jim Clark. He had started from pole and pulled clear before his Lotus locked in gear, and the double world champion never did win at Monaco.

Graham Hill won the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix despite taking to an escape road on lap 25 to avoid what?

A slow backmarker. Hill was lapping Bob Anderson's ailing Brabham when he had to dive up the escape road; he rejoined fifth and was back in front by lap 65.

In which superhero film is the hero attacked by a whip-wielding villain while racing in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix?

Iron Man 2. Formula One's boss withdrew permission to film on the real streets, so most of the race was staged on a replica of the circuit in a California studio car park.

Which safety feature first went up at points around the Monaco circuit in 1969?

Armco rails. Two cars had already ended up in the harbour, in 1955 and 1965, and more steel rail went up each year until it lined almost the whole lap.

Monaco's double chicane of 1973 wraps around which new facility, giving the section its name?

The Rainier III Nautical Stadium. Its outdoor pool gives the Swimming Pool section its name, and the new stretch of track made room for the circuit's first permanent pit lane.

Who won the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix after spinning out of the lead and bump-starting his stalled car downhill?

Riccardo Patrese. On the last lap the Ferrari that had inherited the lead stopped in the tunnel and the car behind it ran out of fuel, handing him his first Grand Prix win.

Which Le Mans winner, as clerk of the course, stopped the rain-hit 1984 Monaco Grand Prix without consulting the stewards?

Jacky Ickx. He was suspended from race control for acting alone, and the half points awarded proved costly: winner Alain Prost lost that year's title by half a point.

Ayrton Senna's charge through the rain at the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix came in a car from which team?

Toleman. He started 13th in the small team's car and was closing fast on the leader when the race was stopped, and his second place was Toleman's first podium.

Who won the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix when leader Jack Brabham slid off at the last corner of the last lap?

Jochen Rindt. He chased so hard that the leader braked too late and slid into the straw bales; Rindt was killed that September and became world champion posthumously.

Monaco's Nouvelle Chicane was created in 1986 by doing what?

Expanding into the harbour water. The old left-right flick was being taken at alarming speed, so the quay was built out to fit a slower chicane with a little run-off.

Ayrton Senna's 1987 Monaco win was the first Grand Prix victory for a car with what technology?

Active suspension. The computer-controlled system added weight and sapped power, but it came into its own on bumpy street tracks: his only other win that year was in Detroit.

At which Monaco corner did Ayrton Senna crash out of a huge lead in 1988 and then go home to his flat?

Portier. He was almost 50 seconds clear of his team-mate when he clipped the barrier at the right-hander before the tunnel, throwing away a race he had dominated all weekend.

Nigel Mansell lost a seemingly certain 1992 Monaco win with seven laps to go because of what?

A loose wheel nut. Fearing a puncture, he pitted, rejoined five seconds behind Ayrton Senna, caught him on fresh tyres and hounded him to the flag, losing by two-tenths of a second.

Which Williams driver finished second when Ayrton Senna took his record sixth Monaco win in 1993?

Damon Hill. His father Graham's five wins had been the record since 1969; Senna inherited the lead after one rival was penalised for a jumped start and another's car failed.

Which Sauber driver was left in a coma by a practice crash at the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix?

Karl Wendlinger. He hit the barriers at the harbour chicane two weeks after the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at Imola, and Sauber withdrew its other car from the race.

Who won the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix from 14th on the grid, his only Formula One victory and Ligier's last?

Olivier Panis. He timed his switch to slick tyres perfectly on a drying track, while the pole-sitter crashed on the first lap and both men who led before him broke down.

Who finished second at Monaco in 1996 wearing Michael Schumacher's helmet?

David Coulthard. His own visor kept misting up in the wet, so the grid seemed to hold two Michael Schumachers, and the real one crashed out on the opening lap.

Michael Schumacher was sent to the back of the 2006 Monaco grid for stopping his car where during qualifying?

The Rascasse hairpin. He held provisional pole when he stopped there in the dying moments, spoiling his rivals' last laps, and the stewards decided he had done it on purpose.

Michael Schumacher's first two Monaco wins, in 1994 and 1995, came with which team?

Benetton. In 1994 he took the first pole of his career, and the front of the grid was painted with the flags of Brazil and Austria for Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, killed two weeks earlier.

A diamond vanished from the nose of a crashed Jaguar at the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix while promoting which heist film?

Ocean's Twelve. Christian Klien crashed on the opening lap, and by the time the team got the car back the gem had gone; it has never been found.

Why could Charles Leclerc not start the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix after taking pole position?

A driveshaft failure. He had crashed at the end of qualifying; Ferrari found the gearbox sound and kept him on pole, but the left driveshaft gave way before he reached the grid and his slot stood empty.

Which Formula One first marked Charles Leclerc's 2024 Monaco win?

Top ten in grid order. A first-lap crash stopped the race, and after the restart the leaders circled in procession at a tyre-saving crawl all the way to the flag.

What rule did the FIA impose for the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix after a processional 2024 race?

A mandatory two pit stops. Teams simply had one car crawl to open a gap for the other's stops, Max Verstappen likened it to Mario Kart, and the rule was scrapped after a single race.

Who took pole for the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix with what was then the fastest qualifying lap in the race's history?

Lando Norris. His last-gasp 1:09.954 knocked home favourite Charles Leclerc off pole, and the next day he turned it into his first Monaco win.

Which former winner skipped the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix to race in the Indianapolis 500, held the same day?

Fernando Alonso. The two races shared a date that year, as they often did; from 2026 the Grand Prix moved to early June, so drivers no longer have to choose between them.

Monaco alone is excused from which Formula One rule?

Minimum race distance. Monaco is set at 260 km, not the usual 305, and even that can prove too far: the wet 2008 race hit the two-hour limit two laps short.

Monaco's famous hairpin, once Station and later Loews, now takes its name from which hotel beside it?

Fairmont. The hotel stands where Monaco's first railway station was, and the corner is renamed whenever the hotel is: Station, then Loews, then Grand Hotel, and now Fairmont.

Who won the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix despite losing power and two of his gears with 50 laps still to run?

Daniel Ricciardo. 'Redemption' was his one-word verdict over the radio: two years earlier his tyres had not been ready at a pit stop, which cost him a likely Monaco win.

What is the name of the harbour that the Monaco Grand Prix circuit runs beside?

Port Hercules. Traders were using the deep natural bay in Greek and Roman times, and on race weekend spectators watch from the yachts moored along the track.

Which triple world champion likened racing at Monaco to 'riding a bicycle around your living room'?

Nelson Piquet. For all his three world titles he never did master the living room: he raced at Monaco for over a decade and never finished higher than second.

Whose death, days before the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix, was marked with red halos and a red star on the winning car?

Niki Lauda. The three-time world champion had died six days earlier; fans wore red caps like his for a minute's silence, and the car that won the race carried his signature on its nose.

Where at the Monaco Grand Prix did the top three traditionally go to collect their trophies?

In the royal box. The first three stop on the track in front of it and climb up to the Prince; in 2009 Jenson Button drove into the pit lane by mistake and had to run back down the straight.

Until 2022 the Monaco Grand Prix held its opening practice sessions on which day of the week?

Thursday. The habit began when the race was built around a bank-holiday weekend and lasted because the gap day let traffic flow and shops trade; from 2022 Monaco started on Friday like every other race.

Who won the wet 2008 Monaco Grand Prix despite clipping a barrier and puncturing a tyre in the opening laps?

Lewis Hamilton. The forced stop let his team fill the car with fuel for a long run, which turned his mistake into the winning strategy as the track dried.

Which event did Monaco's one-time cycling club first run in 1911?

Monte Carlo Rally. The club had added cars to its name in 1907, ran its first rally four years later, and in 1925 its members voted to become the Automobile Club de Monaco.

Which team dressed its Monaco pit crew as Star Wars stormtroopers in 2005 and ran Superman colours a year later?

Red Bull. The Superman weekend brought the team's first podium: its driver collected the trophy in a red cape, and team boss Christian Horner jumped into a swimming pool wearing nothing else.

Which two races join Monaco in motorsport's Triple Crown?

Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans. By 2026 only Graham Hill had won all three, partly because Monaco and Indianapolis so often fell on the same weekend.

Which Monaco winner retired to his yacht in the harbour after his car failed in second place in 2006?

Kimi Räikkönen. Instead of walking back to the pits he strolled to the harbour still in his helmet, and the television cameras soon found him in the boat's hot tub with a beer while the race went on.

Which driver, raised in Monaco from infancy, won its Grand Prix three years running from 2013?

Nico Rosberg. He raced under the German flag, so he never counted as a home winner; the third win fell to him when his team-mate, well clear, was called in for a needless pit stop.