.png){kind=small}
Formula 1 fans are gearing up for one of the most iconic race weekends of the year. Few races carry the history and prestige of the Monaco Grand Prix, and although it has been the topic of debate lately, with race day Sunday taking a back seat to Saturday’s Qualifying in terms of excitement, there are few who would deny the impact that this race has had in F1.
So with that, we take a look at the history of racing in Monaco and three things that you may not have known about this epic Grand Prix.
The driver with four poles, no wins
The Monaco curse is a well-known concept to modern F1 fans, who have seen local hero Charles Leclerc face heartbreak again and again at his home track. From car failures, to crashes, to horrible strategic calls that saw leads slipping away, misfortune in Monaco has been a common theme for him, with his 2024 win and 2025 P2 being rare moments of relief.
Yet even Leclerc’s struggles pale in comparison to that of Jim Clark and his streak of bad luck in Montecarlo.
Clark was one of the best drivers of his time, holding two Drivers’ Championship titles to his name (1963 and 1965) and a win at every single grand prix circuit of the era… except for Monaco. In fact, despite getting four pole positions across six appearances at the circuit (including three in a row between 1962 and 1964), he never once even made it onto the podium in Monaco, with his best result being P4 in 1964.
That’s not to say that he didn’t come close or have some great battles at this track. In 1966, after his gearbox jammed on the race start, Clark found himself dropping from pole to the very back of the field on the first lap. In true champion fashion however, he fought his way to the front again, battling for third place with Graham Hill in what looked to be a historic recovery drive in the making. Unfortunately, with a little less than half of the race to go, the suspension on Clark’s car gave out, ending his brilliant run through the field.
Moments like this are always heartbreaking, but especially so at the Circuit de Monaco, one of the most esteemed tracks in motorsports as a whole. Only time will tell how things will play out this year, but one thing is for certain… Monaco has always been a place where the highs and lows are of enormous proportions.
The race where every finisher got on the podium
Imagine being guaranteed a podium as long as you manage to take the checkered flag.
This was the case of the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix. In a strange sequence of events, out of the 21 starting drivers only three–Olivier Panis, David Coulthard and Johnny Herbert–managed to make it to the end of the race, guaranteeing themselves a spot on the podium at the end of the day. With 85.7% of the field out before the race was over, this Grand Prix holds the record for the highest percentage of retirements in F1 to this day (of note, the highest total number of retired cars goes to the 1984 Detroit Grand Prix, in which 20 out of 26 participants either retired or were disqualified).
So what happened? Rain. (It’s always rain.)
A consistent downfall throughout the day made the already tight and winding track quite slippery, creating the perfect situation for incidents to pile up. The first retirement was Max Verstappen’s own father, Jos Verstappen, who opted to start the race on slick tires instead of wet, and didn’t even make it past Turn 1 of the opening lap. That first lap alone saw five retirements, including Giancarlo Fisichella, Rubens Barricello and the legend himself Michael Schumacher, who lost control of his car and skidded off the track and into a wall.
Other notable retirements included Martin Brundle, Damon Hill (who was looking set to win the race at one point), Jean Alesi, Jacque Villeneuve, Eddie Irvine, and Mika Hakkinen, among several others. Of note, the Grand Prix didn’t even reach the originally intended 79 laps, as races had a two-hour limit at the time, and with rain falling consistently throughout, lap times were considerably slower than usual.
Jenson Button’s accidental victory lap
A win in Monaco is one of the most memorable things that could happen to any F1 driver, but few have had a victory as unforgettable as that of Jenson Button in 2009.
The year started off tremendously for Button, who went into the Monaco race week with wins at four of the first five races of the season and a podium at the other. He continued his dominance through Qualifying, taking pole position by a margin of just 0.025s ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, and sailed to victory in the race with a seven second gap to his Brawn teammate, Reubens Barichello. This would become his fifth win of the year, helping cement him as the 2009 Drivers Champion.
But the truly memorable part is what came after Button’s victory. While at most tracks winners park their cars in parc fermé, that is not the case in Monaco; instead, the top three finishers leave their cars on the start-finish straight. Yet Button went to parc fermé nonetheless, resulting in him having to jog back through the pit lane and to the podium celebrations, lest he miss his own winners’ ceremony!
The slight blunder resulted in a treat for F1 fans, who got some extra time and a closer look at the Champion-to-be. It also became a fun talking point for the weekend, and certainly a moment for the highlight reel of Button’s year.
Want more surprising facts about this year’s F1 drivers and race tracks? Sign up for our newsletter for a bonus fact about Monaco, and be sure to check out our other Speed Reads:
Images via Red Bull Content Pool
.webp)
.png)
.png)