Monaco

Monaco is a 3.337 km street circuit through the streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine, with 19 corners and a range of about 44 m in elevation. It is the slowest and tightest circuit on the calendar: the Fairmont Hairpin is taken at only 48 km/h, while the tunnel is one of the fastest parts of the lap at around 260 km/h. The walls are inches from the cars almost everywhere, so a small mistake ends a race and there is almost no room to overtake.

The lap starts with the uphill run from Sainte-Dévote to Massenet and Casino Square, drops through Mirabeau to the hairpin and Portier, then goes through the tunnel and the Nouvelle Chicane before the harbour-front corners at Tabac, the Swimming Pool and La Rascasse. Qualifying position is worth a lot here, and strategy usually hinges on safety cars, pit timing and tyre condition.

The first Monaco Grand Prix was held on 14 April 1929, an idea of Antony Noghès, president of the Automobile Club de Monaco. It was won by William Grover-Williams in a Bugatti. Monaco joined the Formula 1 World Championship in 1950, when Juan Manuel Fangio won for Alfa Romeo, and has been part of it since 1955 with the exception of 2020, when the race was cancelled. The 1952 race was a sports-car event and is not counted as a championship Grand Prix.

Ayrton Senna won a record six times (1987 and 1989–1993), Graham Hill won five times between 1963 and 1969 and Michael Schumacher five times. In 1984 Alain Prost won a rain-shortened race that was red-flagged, with Senna second in a Toleman. In 1988 Senna crashed at Portier while leading, and Prost won. In 1996 Olivier Panis won from 14th on the grid, and in 1997 Schumacher won a very wet race that ended after 62 laps. The Nouvelle Chicane was added in 1986, and the swimming-pool section and pit lane were rebuilt in 2003. Lewis Hamilton's 1:12.909 in 2021 is the lap record.

In 2026 the race was held on 7 June. Kimi Antonelli took pole (1:12.051), led the race and set the fastest lap for a Grand Slam, becoming the youngest winner of the Monaco Grand Prix, ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen retired on lap 1 with an engine failure, red flags followed crashes by Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc, and the FIA disabled Straight Mode for safety while leaving Overtake Mode available.