Like many European races, the Monaco Grand Prix predates the current World Championship. The principality's first Grand Prix was organised in 1929 by Antony Noghès, under the auspices of Prince Louis II, through the Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM), of which he was president. The ACM organised the Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo, and in 1928 applied to the Association Internationale des Automobiles Clubs Reconnus (AIACR), the international governing body of motorsport, to be upgraded from a regional French club to full national status. Their application was refused due to the lack of a major motorsport event held wholly within Monaco's boundaries. To attain full national status, Noghès proposed the creation of an automobile Grand Prix in the streets of Monte Carlo.
He obtained the official sanction of Prince Louis II and the support of Monégasque Grand Prix driver Louis Chiron. Chiron thought Monaco's topography was well-suited to setting up a race track. The first race, held on 14 April 1929, was won by William Grover-Williams (using the pseudonym "Williams"), driving a works Bugatti Type 35B. It was an invitation-only event. Rudolf Caracciola finished second in a Mercedes SSK. Chiron was unable to compete, having a prior commitment to compete in the Indianapolis 500. Chiron took victory in the 1931 race driving a Bugatti. He remained the only native of Monaco to have won the event until 2024.
The race quickly grew in importance after its inception. In 1933, Monaco was ranked as an International Grand Prix, or Grandes Épreuves, alongside the French, Belgian, Italian, and Spanish Grands Prix. That year's race was the first Grand Prix in which grid positions were decided by practice time. The race became a round of the new European Championship in 1936, which Rudolf Caracciola won. It was the last prewar Grand Prix at Monaco, for in 1938, the lack of profits for organisers led AIACR to cancel the event. The Second World War ended organised racing in Europe until 1945.
Racing in Europe started again on 9 September 1945. However, the Monaco Grand Prix was not run between 1945 and 1947 due to financial reasons. In 1946, a new premier racing category, Grand Prix, was defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the successor of the AIACR. A Monaco Grand Prix was run to this formula in 1948, won by the future world champion Nino Farina in a Maserati 4CLT.
The 1949 event was cancelled due to the death of Prince Louis II; it was included in the new Formula One World Drivers' Championship the following year. The race provided future five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio with his first win in a World Championship race. There was no race in 1951 due to budgetary concerns and a lack of regulations. No races were held in 1953 or 1954. The Monaco Grand Prix returned in 1955, again as part of the Formula One World Championship, beginning a streak of 64 consecutive years in which the race was held. In the 1955 race, Maurice Trintignant won in Monte Carlo for the first time. Graham Hill won the race five times in the 1960s and became known as "King of Monaco" and "Mr. Monaco".
By the start of the 1970s, efforts by Jackie Stewart saw several Formula One events cancelled because of safety concerns. For the 1969 event, Armco barriers were placed at specific points for the first time in the circuit's history. The Monaco circuit was altered in 1972, and again for the 1973 race. The Rainier III Nautical Stadium was constructed, and the circuit introduced a double chicane that went around the new swimming pool. In 1982, Riccardo Patrese scored his first Grand Prix win. In 1983, the ACM became entangled in disagreements between Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) and FOCA. The ACM won a court case, and the race was reinstated. In 1986, the Nouvelle Chicane was added.
For the decade from 1984 to 1993, the race was won by only two drivers: Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. Prost took his first Monaco win at the 1984 race. Senna holds the record for the most victories in Monaco, with six, including five consecutive wins between 1989 and 1993. The 1994 race was an emotional and tragic affair, coming two weeks after the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. Michael Schumacher won the 1994 and 1995 Monaco events. The 1996 race saw Olivier Panis win after starting in 14th place.
In 2004, land reclamation work was completed, allowing expansion of the pit area. Seven-time world champion Schumacher would eventually win the race five times, matching Graham Hill's record. In July 2010, Bernie Ecclestone announced a 10-year deal had been reached, keeping the race on the calendar until at least 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Monaco Grand Prix was cancelled, making 2020 the first time the Grand Prix was not run since 1954. The race returned in 2021. In 2024, Charles Leclerc became the second Monégasque to win the race following Louis Chiron's win in 1931. In November 2024, the ACM signed a new race contract to remain on the F1 calendar until the 2031 season. From 2026, the race will be held on the first weekend of June, and will therefore no longer clash with the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600.
The Grand Prix takes place on the Circuit de Monaco which traverses the narrow city streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine alongside Monaco's harbour, Port Hercules. It has hosted the Grand Prix every time it has been run since 1929. The race circuit has many elevation changes, tight corners, and a narrow course that requires millimetre accuracy and makes it one of the most demanding tracks in Formula One racing. As of 2025, two drivers have crashed and ended up in the harbour, the most famous being Alberto Ascari in 1955. Despite undergoing minor changes throughout its history, the circuit is largely unchanged since 1929. The circuit includes a tunnel, presenting "challenges not faced elsewhere" due to the contrast of daylight and gloom.
Although Formula One cars have grown in size, the Circuit de Monaco has rarely expanded, limiting overtaking opportunities and on-track entertainment. The circuit has only one DRS zone. The 2024 Monaco Grand Prix was considered particularly dull. The top ten drivers in qualifying finished in the exact same order, and Max Verstappen joked about needing a pillow. The following season, the FIA passed a new rule requiring all drivers to make at least two pit stops at Monaco, with the explicit goal of making the race more entertaining.
The Monaco Grand Prix is organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The practice session for the race was traditionally held on the Thursday preceding the race instead of Friday. From the 2022 event onwards the first two Formula One practice sessions were held on Friday. Support races are run on Thursday. From 2026, the race will be held in the first weekend of June. The erecting of the circuit takes six weeks, and the removal after the race takes three weeks. Until 2017, there was no proper podium at the race. The trophies were handed out before the national anthems for the winning driver and team are played.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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