F1 Track Stats: Monaco Grand Prix

The Monaco Grand Prix is Formula 1’s most iconic event and will make its 70th appearance on the calendar in 2024. Here are all the facts and statistics you need to know about the Circuit de Monaco ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix!


Track length: 3.337km
Race length: 260.286km
Laps: 78
Turns: 19
Circuit opened: 1929
F1 first visited: 1950
Races held: 69
Track Record: 1:10.166, Lewis Hamilton, 2019
Lap Record: 1:12.909, Lewis Hamilton, 2021


RACE WINNERS

Since 1950, Monaco has played host to a Formula 1 race on 69 occasions. Aside from 2020, when the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Monaco Grand Prix has been ever-present on the calendar since 1955. During that time, there have been 36 different winners of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Senna has won the most races in Monaco

The driver with the most Monaco wins is Ayrton Senna, who took victory in the Principality six times – one time more than Graham Hill and Michael Schumacher.

Eight drivers have taken back-to-back wins at the Circuit de Monaco. The most consecutive wins here is five, an honour which goes to Ayrton Senna, having won for McLaren in every year between 1989 and 1993. Senna’s streak is also the longest streak of wins for a single team at the circuit.

Graham Hill is the only driver to have won consecutive races here twice. He won three Monaco Grands Prix in a row between 1963 and 1965, before winning twice more in 1968 and 1969.

There are five previous winners of the Monaco Grand Prix on the 2023 grid. Lewis Hamilton took his third victory in 2019 while Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen have each won twice. Daniel Ricciardo took victory in 2018, while Sergio Perez became a Monaco winner in 2022.

The longest streak of different Monaco Grand Prix winners is seven, which happened between 1978 and 1984.

British drivers have won here more often than drivers from any other nation, with 17 victories collectively for Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, David Coulthard, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Five drivers have recorded a Grand Slam at the Monaco Grand Prix: Juan Manuel Fangio in 1950, Jackie Stewart in 1971, Ayrton Senna in 1990, Michael Schumacher in 1994 and Mika Häkkinen in 1998.

McLaren have the most Monaco Grand Prix wins of any team

McLaren are the team with the most wins, having won here 15 times; a third of their victories coming from Senna.

Ford Cosworth has powered the most Monaco victories, with their engines winning 13 times, most recently in 1994.

There have been only 11 occasions on which a team has recorded a 1-2 result at the Monaco Grand Prix. The most recent was for Ferrari in 2017.

Four drivers have won the Monaco Grand Prix by over a lap

The largest win margin at the Monaco Grand Prix is over a lap. It has happened on four occasions – for Juan Manuel Fangio in 1950, Graham Hill in 1964, Denny Hulme in 1967 and Riccardo Patrese in 1982.

Conversely, the smallest win margin at the track is 0.215 seconds. This came as a result of Nigel Mansell hunting down Ayrton Senna for victory in the memorable 1992 event.

The Monaco Grand Prix has been won by less than ten seconds 34 times. It has been won by less than five seconds on 25 occasions, and has been won by less than a second eight times.

From the last ten races here, the average win margin at the Monaco Grand Prix has been 7.596 seconds.

ON THE PODIUM

86 different drivers have taken podium finishes at the Monaco Grand Prix.

There are nine previous podium finishers at Monaco on the current grid. Lewis Hamilton has the most, with seven. Fernando Alonso is next on the list with five top three finishes here, while Daniel Ricciardo has four. Max Verstappen has finished in the top three on three occasions, while Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez have done so twice. Valtteri Bottas, Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon have each taken a single podium here.

Senna and Ferrari are top of the all-time podium lists in Monaco

It’s Ayrton Senna who has the most top three finishes at the Monaco Grand Prix, having stood on the podium eight times.

Ferrari are the team with the most podiums in Monaco. Their 55 podium tally is just over double that of next most successful team McLaren.

British drivers lead the way in terms of most podiums for a nation, with the British flag appearing on the podium 46 times, 21 times more than France in second place.

The pole to win conversion rate is low in Monaco

From the 69 Monaco Grands Prix held since 1950, the polesitter has gone on to finish on the podium 40 times.

No driver has ever taken a podium finish at the track from lower than 16th on the grid. Clay Regazzoni finished as runner-up after starting from 16th on the grid in 1979.

The top three qualifiers at Monaco have gone on to all finish on the podium in the Grand Prix just eight times since 1950, including seven times in the last 16 Monaco races.

The top three have finished in the order they started only four times at Monaco – in 2007, 2014, 2018 and 2023.


LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MONACO GRAND PRIX


POLESITTERS

There have been 37 different polesitters at the Monaco Grand Prix since 1950.

There are five previous Monaco Grand Prix polesitters on the 2024 grid. Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc each have two poles here, while Max Verstappen secured his first Monaco pole in 2023.

Senna has taken the most pole positions in Monaco

Ayrton Senna has the most poles here, having taken five pole positions at the Monaco Grand Prix between 1985 and 1991.

11 drivers have taken back-to-back poles at Monaco, with Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc being the only drivers on the current grid to have achieved this.

The most consecutive poles at this track is four, which Ayrton Senna achieved between 1988 and 1991. Juan Manuel Fangio also took four consecutive poles for all the F1 races which took place in Monaco between 1950 and 1957. Impressively, all of those poles came with different teams.

British drivers have more pole positions in Monaco than any other nation, with 22 in total – 14 more than second-placed Brazil.

There have been four occasions on which the fastest qualifier did not start from pole

There have been four occasions on which the fastest qualifier did not start from pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix. David Coulthard stalled on the formation lap and started from the back of the grid in 2001; Michael Schumacher was demoted to the back of the grid for his antics in qualifying at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix; Schumacher also set the fastest lap time in qualifying in 2012 but carried a five-place grid drop into the race and started sixth as a result; Charles Leclerc failed to start the race due to gearbox issues in 2021.

In addition, no one started from the front row of the grid at the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix, with the two grid slots left clear in tribute Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna.

Ferrari have the most Monaco poles of any team

Ferrari set a new record for most poles in Monaco in 2022, with Charles Leclerc recording the Scuderia’s 12th pole at the circuit.

The longest streak of pole positions at the track for a team is five, recorded by Lotus between 1960 and 1964.

There have been 16 occasions on which a team has locked-out the front row of the grid at the Monaco Grand Prix. Half of those occasions have been in the last 16 races at the track.

It was not until 1970 that a team first locked-out the front row at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The largest pole margin in Monaco is over two seconds

The largest pole margin at the Monaco Grand Prix came in 1950, when Juan Manuel Fangio took pole by 2.6 seconds. The smallest gap pole was taken by here is 0.019 seconds, which happened in 1997 when Heinz-Harald Frentzen took pole for Williams.

Pole has been decided by less than a tenth of a second on 19 occasions at the Monaco circuit.

From the last ten races, the average pole margin at the Monaco Grand Prix is 0.156 seconds.

Lap times around Monaco have lowered by over 40 seconds since 1950

After numerous changes to the track and the advance in speed of the cars, the difference between the fastest and slowest pole laps at the Monaco circuit is 40.034 seconds. The slowest pole lap came in 1950 and the fastest in 2019.

SATURDAY TO SUNDAY

The Monaco Grand Prix has been won from pole 31 times since 1950. The polesitter has finished on the podium without winning the Monaco Grand Prix on nine occasions.

The race has been won from the front row of the grid 49 times, including in every year since 2009 except 2016 and 2022.

The Monaco Grand Prix has been won from third or further back on the grid 20 times. The furthest back win here came in 1996, when Olivier Panis took victory from 14th on the grid. His is the only Monaco victory in the last 35 races to have come from further back on the grid than third.

There have been 23 occasions on which the polesitter did not lead at the end of Lap 1 in Monaco. Charles Leclerc’s 2021 DNS aside, Juan Pablo Montoya in 2002 is the last polesitter not to lead at the end of Lap 1. He was overtaken on the run to Turn 1 by David Coulthard.

Not including Charles Leclerc’s DNS at the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, there have been only two occasions on which the Monaco Grand Prix polesitter has failed to complete the first lap of the race. Jack Brabham’s engine blew up on Lap 1 in the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, while Michael Schumacher crashed out on the opening lap in the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix.

SUNDAY STATISTICS

Since 1950, there have been 5,598 F1 racing laps at the Circuit de Monaco.

Fernando Alonso has completed the most racing laps in Monaco, having overtaken Graham Hill’s 55-year-old record in 2022.

Since 1950, 1,403 cars have started a Monaco Grand Prix. Of those, 733 have reached the chequered flag, giving an overall finish rate of 52%.

44 different drivers have set the fastest lap of the Monaco Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher is the driver who has taken the most Fastest Laps at the Monaco Grand Prix, having done so five times during his career.

The highest number of drivers to finish on the same lap as the race winner at Monaco is 15, which happened in 2013. There have only been seven occasions where more than ten drivers have finished on the lead lap at this track – and all of those occurrences have happened after 2010.

There have been 13 rain-affected Monaco Grands Prix since 1950.

The 2019 Monaco Grand Prix was the first in which more than 18 cars have reached the chequered flag. 19 cars crossed the line in 2019. The fewest number of cars to reach the end is three, in the chaotic 1996 event.

Michael Schumacher has led the most laps in Monaco

Michael Schumacher has led more laps than any other driver at the Monaco Grand Prix, having spent 435 laps at the front of the pack.

Nigel Mansell holds the record for most laps led in Monaco without taking a victory. He led 104 laps at the Monaco Grand Prix without ever winning in the principality.

Jochen Rindt won the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix having led only the last lap of the race.

There have been 24 races held in Monaco in which the winner led every lap of the race. It last happened in 2023.

The 2003 Monaco Grand Prix is the Monaco race which featured the most different leaders. Five different drivers led a lap over the course of the race.

There have been only 14 races in Monaco in which the winner was not the driver who led the most laps of the Grand Prix. This last happened in 2015, when Nico Rosberg led only 14 laps on his way to victory.

Safety Cars are common at the Monaco Grand Prix

15 races here have featured a Safety Car period, with the Safety Car and VSC being called out 33 times in total at Monaco.

The most Safety Car appearances in a single race here is four, which happened in 2010.

The 2018 Monaco Grand Prix was the first not to feature a full Safety Car period since 2009, while both the 2021 and 2023 Monaco Grands Prix featured no Safety Cars or Virtual Safety Car periods.

Seven races at Monaco have been red-flagged.

There have been six Monaco Grands Prix which have not run to full distance, most recently in 2022. Five of those five occasions were due to wet weather conditions, while the 2004 race was shortened by a lap due to an aborted start. Read more: F1 Races Which Didn’t Reach Full Distance.

CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY

A World Champion has never been crowned at this track.

The winner of the Monaco Grand Prix has gone on to win the title in the same season 23 times. It has happened only three times from the last 11 seasons in which the Monaco Grand Prix has has taken place. In 2019, Lewis Hamilton became the first winner of the Monaco Grand Prix to win the title in the same season since Sebastian Vettel in 2011.

There have been 27 occasions on which the polesitter at the Monaco Grand Prix has won the title in the same season. This has happened only six times in the last 22 races at the circuit.

The leader of the Drivers’ Championship after the Monaco Grand Prix has gone on to win the title on 37 occasions.

There have been five occasions on which the lead of the Drivers’ Championship has been tied after the Monaco Grand Prix. It happened in 1950, 1962, 1989, 2007 and 2010.

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