The jewel in the crown

Pushing the limit in the PrincipalityPushing the limit in the Principality

2025 SEASON

LanceStroll

15th

RACE POSITION

11th

DRIVER STANDING

Lance's profile

FernandoAlonso

DNF

RACE POSITION

18th

DRIVER STANDING

Fernando's profile

Monaco Grand Prix race stats

1.5

Number of pitstops

Longest stint (laps)

56.99999999999999

Total laps

190.2

Total kilometres

LanceStroll

P15

Final position

P19

Starting position

Points

FernandoAlonso

DNF

Final position

Starting position

Points

Fastest lapM:S.MS

1:14.877

Lance

1:15.593

Fernando

Max speedKM/H

291.5

Lance

278.1

Fernando

Practice laps

Lance

Fernando

Qualifying laps

Lance

Fernando

Race laps

Lance

Fernando

Total laps

147

Lance

146

Fernando

Monaco Grand Prix

The Debrief by Aramco

A tough end to the weekend at the jewel in the Formula One crown.

Few sights in sport are more spectacular than Formula One cars racing in Monaco. Overtaking can be difficult in the Principality, but the 2023 edition of this prestigious race – in which Fernando finished on the podium – proved that anything can happen around these famous streets.

Monaco is a marquee event. When many – if not most – people think of Formula One, the image that rises unbidden is of cars flashing past the yachts in Port Hercules – and the harbour is only part of the glamour in an event famed for its celebrity sightings, fashion and A-list parties. Very occasionally a race breaks out too. In the dry, those have a tendency towards the processional, with the real heart-in-mouth drama taking place on Saturday during F1's most tense qualifying hour… but there's something new this year to give the race a little extra spice.

This year, the Monaco Grand Prix sits in the middle of a triple-header, before Spain and hard on the heels of a visit to Emilia-Romagna. We were a little unlucky with the Safety Cars at Imola and came away empty-handed – but an excellent fifth in Qualifying from Fernando and a competitive race suggested the updates on the car are having an impact. Now we get to test them on a circuit of a different nature.

We also have Aston Martin Aramco young driver Jak Crawford to cheer on this weekend as F2 sits on the support programme. It's a circuit where Jak's picked up a trophy in the past, and coming off a splendid Sprint victory at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, he'll be hungry to propel his season forward.

TRACK INSIGHTS

Circuit de MonacoCircuit de Monaco

Massenet and Casino are difficult. All corners are difficult in Monaco. There's never enough grip.

Pedro de la Rosa – Aston Martin Aramco Team Ambassador

Toggle below to highlight parts of the track.

Sectors
Turns
DRS

Circuit length (km)
3.337
Number of corners
19
Race distance (km)
260.286

NEED TO KNOW: MONACO GP

The essential Monaco travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Mastering Circuit de Monaco

The magic of racing in Monaco

Strategy Insights from Monaco

Ultimate Monaco Grand Prix facts

Last time out

The essential Monaco travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Part of the magic of Monaco is that everything within track limits is very, very accessible. The number of people who go to Monaco on Grand Prix weekend far outstrips the number of grandstand seats – and while many of the overflow will be watching the race from balconies or the decks of the yachts in Port Hercules, there's plenty who will simply be in the Principality to soak up the atmosphere, see the sights and do a little bit of people-watching.

Once the track activity is done for the day, the circuit opens to traffic – including, if you're careful, foot traffic. While walking the track, you can have a pizza in the famous Tip Top restaurant, following in the footsteps of Graham Hill, or wander down to Rascasse and join the party that spills out onto the track every evening.

Away from the harbour, Monaco is busy during race weekend. F1 tends to monopolise Place d'Armes, which is where a lot of the merchandising is set up – but it's also home to the stage, from which live music will pour forth, in between the appearances from various drivers. Elsewhere in the Principality's tangle of tiny streets, it isn't a great week to visit any of those haute couture boutiques – but it is a good one to go to a café or pizzeria, kick back with a demi-carafe of wine and watch the world go by – if you can find a table.

Of course, that's not everyone's speed. The residents of Monaco – including plenty of ex-F1 drivers – tend to make their excuses this week and leave town for somewhere quieter – but even if you only want a morning off, there's tranquillity to be found a short-ish walk away. Stroll west past Fontvieille and along the coastal path to Cap-d'Ail (or spend a couple of Euros for three minutes on the train – but the walk is nicer) and suddenly you're on the French Riviera at the start of summer with all the possibilities that entails. Sit in park; have lunch at an elegant shoreline restaurant, or go for a swim in the warm blue waters off Mala Beach. It's a nice way to spend a morning. It's an even nicer way to spend a day.

Mastering Circuit de Monaco

This isn't quite the same circuit that hosted the inaugural Monaco Grand Prix, though the majority of what remains today would be familiar to the drivers who raced here in 1929. Land reclamation has created a little more room in the Principality, though the track is a little more squeezed, which isn't a good thing for these wide, modern F1 cars – hence the metaphor of doing a lap here being like riding a bicycle in your living room.

The track has just the one DRS zone, between Antony Noghès (T19) and (Sainte-Dévote) (T1), but at 510m in length, it isn't really long enough to be of use. The better overtaking spot is coming out of the Tunnel (T9), under braking into the Nouvelle Chicane (T10). 'Better' is grading on a very shallow curve: it's still almost impossible to pass, and that's helped (or hindered) by the large bump coming down the hill that unsettles the cars and has led, over the years, to some heavy crashes at this corner. In common with the other venerable bumps around the circuit, successive resurfacing work attempts to flatten them out, but there's only so much the track authorities can do.

This is a circuit where Qualifying takes centre stage. A fully-committed lap of the Circuit de Monaco is always millimetres away from disaster. While the faster corners, through Tabac (T12) and the Swimming Pool (T13-T16) tend to catch the eye, it's the lower speed sections of track where the larger chunks of time are gained and lost. Teams will pile on as much downforce as they can find, because with less than 40 per cent of lap time at full throttle, carrying extra speed through the corners always outweighs the drag penalty.

The magic of racing in Monaco

We've told you that Monaco is the slowest race on the F1 calendar – but watching trackside it feels like the fastest: there aren't many places where you can get closer to a working F1 car than Monaco. Grandstands are a bit of a mixed bag, more or less crammed in wherever space allows. Most of the seats are located on the waterfront, either side of the track between Tabac and Rascasse at the end of the lap.

Many of the seats are of the single-corner variety – but the K tribune, running from Tabac to the Swimming Pool entrance offers a bit more – depending on where you're seated. Luck into the correct spot, you might get a view all the way back to the Nouvelle Chicane – or you might not. It is, however, as much an auditory experience as a visual one here in the middle of the track, with cars on all four sides. Over the other side of the track, with its back to the harbour, Grandstand O looks down on the Swimming Pool section. If there's a singular part of the track that you'd like to see an F1 car attacking, this is it. Very quick; very risky.

Also, it's worth noting, this is a city, not a permanent racetrack, and access to the grandstands can be limited. Basically, once you're in position, it isn't easy to leave. The bulk of the seats are uncovered – which means the day can cover the gamut from soaking to baking with something astoundingly pleasant in-between.

For anyone who prefers their grand prix experience a little more al fresco, there's a general admission zone at La Rocher, which overlooks the pit-entry and the short blatt between Rascasse and Noghes.

Strategy Insights from Monaco

Monaco is a one-stop race. Degradation is very, very low, and last year, after the first lap red-flag and restart, most of the field completed the remaining 77 laps on whichever of the Hard or Medium tyre they hadn't had fitted at the original start. But, even were degradation not low, Monaco would still be a one-stop race. The pace delta needed to overtake is so high, there's just no strategy that makes more than the single, mandatory stop pay off.

This year, however, F1 is trying something different. In an effect to inject a little more variability, a dry Monaco Grand Prix will have a requirement for each driver to use at least two compounds – as usual – but also make at least two pitstops.

This is something new. We've seen multiple mandatory stops before, in Qatar 2023 after concerns about tyre wear, and back when F1 had refuelling, the physical size of tanks meant certain cars would always be stopping twice on high consumption circuits… but neither of those situations is like this. Track position will continue to dominate over pure race pace, but there are many different ways in which that may manifest. In an old, familiar place, this is a voyage into the unknown.

Ultimate Monaco Grand Prix facts

1 | The Monaco Grand Prix was first held in 1929. It appeared on the original Formula One World Championship calendar in 1950 and reappeared in 1955. Having since then missed only the 2020 season, only the British and Italian Grands Prix have appeared on the calendar more often, and only Monza has hosted more races.

2 | The 1950 Monaco Grand Prix holds the lowest average speed record for a non-interrupted race, with Juan Manual Fangio winning at an average of 98.701km/h (61mph). The 2023 edition (the last race without a Safety Car), raised that to 143.452km/h (89mph). In contrast, the next slowest circuit is Singapore at 182km/h.

3 | Because speeds in Monaco are low, the race is shortened. Every other grands prix is contested over 305km; Monaco drops this to 260km. This makes for a 78-lap race. In the early years, the race was held over 100 laps.

4 | Ayrton Senna is the most successful driver in Monaco, winning six times – one more than Graham Hill and Michael Schumacher.

5 | Loews Hairpin is the lowest-speed corner in F1, with speeds dropping below 50km/h. The steering rack of an F1 car often requires some adjustment to make the turn.

6 | Fernando has back-to-back victories here, winning in 2006 and 2007.

7 | Oliver Panis holds the record for claiming victory from furthest back, starting P14 in 1996. No one else has won from outside the top 10, and no one since Panis has won from outside the top three.

8 | Monaco's corner names tend to be quite literal. Sainte-Dévote passes by the Sainte-Dévote Chapel, Massenet references the bust of composer Jules Massenet, located outside the Opera House, Mirabeau was/is a hotel, Loews, which became the Grand Hotel and later the Fairmont was a hotel and casino. The Nouvelle Chicane is the new chicane that replaced the Chicane du Port, there was a tobacconist at Tabac and Rascasse goes around the Rascasse bar where the party goes on until the early hours. The one exception is Antony Noghès: the final corner is named in honour of the race's founder.

Last time out

Our four races in Monaco have produced a mix of highs and lows. Our debut in 2021 went well, with both Sebastian Vettel and Lance making strong progress, with Seb profiting from an overcut to finish P5, with Lance going super-long to make up places to finish P8. 2022 had a downpour and a delay. It was a day to gamble with the tyre choices, there was another red flag, Lance clattered a barrier at Massenet but kept going on a day when many didn’t, and Seb grabbed a point for tenth.

Hundredths of a second separated Fernando from pole position in 2023, in what may have been our closest brush with victory to date. He started P2 and doggedly followed Max Verstappen until a rainstorm interrupted proceedings. Fernando put it all on the line, pitting for more slicks – but the rain intensified, and he had to pit again for Inters, and settle for P2.

We had a couple of goes at starting the Monaco Grand Prix last year, following a multi-car crash – huge even by Monaco standards – at the start on the way up the Beau Rivage. It happened behind Lance and Fernando, who took both starts in P13 and P14. After the restart, good teamwork and a strong strategy put Lance on the cusp of a point – but a late-race puncture meant, for the first time, we left Monaco empty-handed.

Session Times

FP1

Fri23May

12:30-13:30 BST

FP2

Fri23May

16:00-17:00 BST

FP3

Sat24May

11:30-12:30 BST

Quali

Sat24May

15:00-16:00 BST

Race

Sun25May

14:00 BST

Talking Points

Ready to roll the dice in Monaco

Aston Martin Aramco Young Driver and F2 star Jak Crawford discusses the start to his campaign, puts us in the cockpit for a lap around Monaco, and sheds light on his recent TPC running at Zandvoort with the team.

Jak Crawford Monaco Talking Points Monaco list image

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Pushing the limit in the PrincipalityPushing the limit in the Principality

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Last time out

Ready to roll the dice in Monaco

This is your shot

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