Circuit de Monaco
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Monaco is the archetypal street circuit, threading its narrow, barrier-lined layout through the streets of the principality including a tunnel beneath the Fairmont hotel. It is the shortest and slowest circuit on the calendar, placing an enormous premium on precise qualifying laps since overtaking on track is notoriously difficult. Despite this it remains the most prestigious race in Formula 1, run since the championship's very first season.
Length
3.337 km
Turns
19
Race Laps
78
Elevation
42m
First GP
1950
Lap Record
1:12.909
Lewis Hamilton (2021)
Famous Corners
Turn 1
Sainte Devote
Turn 6
Casino Square
Turn 10
Mirabeau
Turn 15
Rascasse
Turn 17
Tunnel
Location
Nearest Town
The circuit is run entirely within Monaco itself, the tiny independent principality on the French Riviera known for its wealth, casinos, and yacht-lined harbour. Monte Carlo, its most famous district, hosts much of the circuit including the harbourfront swimming pool section. The city-state's dense urban fabric means the track effectively is the town.
Getting There
Nice Côte d'Azur Airport, across the border in France, is the nearest international airport, around 30 minutes from Monaco by car or helicopter transfer. Monaco's own Monaco-Monte-Carlo railway station sits beneath the town and is within walking distance of much of the circuit.
Circuit History & Trivia
Notable Incidents
Several serious crashes have occurred at the Nouvelle Chicane over the decades, including Karl Wendlinger's severe accident there in 1994, Jenson Button's crash at the same spot in 2003, and Sergio Pérez's heavy shunt between the tunnel exit and the chicane in 2011, which reopened safety discussions about that section of track. The circuit's history also includes four fatalities across its decades of racing: Norman Linnecar in 1948, Luigi Fagioli in 1952, Dennis Taylor in 1962, and Lorenzo Bandini, who crashed and was fatally burned at the harbor chicane in 1967. Bandini's death in particular pushed forward safety improvements in an era when barriers and marshaling around the harbor were still rudimentary.
Design History
The street circuit has remained fundamentally the same public-road layout since its creation in 1929, with changes driven largely by alterations to the ordinary streets of Monaco rather than deliberate circuit redesign. The most significant change came in 1973, when the track was extended by adding the tunnel beneath the Fairmont hotel and the swimming pool section, lengthening the lap by 0.133 kilometres. In 1986 the Nouvelle Chicane was introduced as a slower, safer alternative to a previous fast direction change, and further tweaks in 2003 widened the port area and modified the swimming pool curves for better visibility.
Records & Notable Races
Lewis Hamilton holds the current F1 lap record around Monaco, a 1:12.909 set in a Mercedes W12 during 2021. Because overtaking is so difficult on the narrow streets, pole position has historically translated into victory far more often here than at almost any other circuit on the calendar. The mix of the circuit's slowest corner, the Fairmont Hairpin at roughly 48 km/h, and its fastest point in the tunnel near 260 km/h, produces some of the widest speed variation of any track in the sport.
Fun Facts
The final corner is named Antony Noghès, honoring the race organizer who helped establish the Monaco Grand Prix. Nelson Piquet famously compared racing at Monaco to 'riding a bicycle around your living room,' capturing the claustrophobic scale of the circuit relative to modern F1 cars. Remarkably, the entire street circuit is built from scratch each year, with construction taking about six weeks and the post-race dismantling requiring a further three weeks, all while the surrounding streets return to ordinary public use the rest of the year. The Monaco Casino overlooks the Casino Square section of the lap, giving the race one of its most recognizable visual backdrops.