Monaco Track Preview

therookiereporters
9 hours ago
2 min read

Formula One is heading to race in one of the richest countries on the planet. The glitz and glamour of Monte Carlo is about to welcome the roar of the engines but before its lights out this is what you should know about the Monaco Grand Prix.

So much prestige is plastered onto the tarmac, and the Grand Prix never fails to entertain the fans with 78 laps of racing action or 260.286km. The fastest lap is currently held by decent time world champion Lewis Hamilton at 1:12.909 since 2021 but could a different Mercedes driver in the likes of George Russell or Kimi Antonelli beat this record?

2025 Recap

Last year our reigning world champion Lando Norris took pole position by (time) over home hero Charles Leclerc. He retained the lead and went on to convert his pole into a win. Leclerc came in second while McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri finished third. Lap one saw Bortoleto’s Sauber in the wall which brought out the Virtual Safety Car (VSC). Just a few laps later Pierre Gasly crashed and sustained damage on the front left of his car having to trundle down to the pits for a retirement. Alonso was the next to retire on lap 39 with an engine issue as Mercedes were struggling with engine reliability for their customer teams like Aston Martin and Williams. With a mandatory 2 pit stop being implemented for the Grand Prix in an attempt for more racing action George Russell received a 20 second time penalty for cutting the chicane out of the tunnel to overtake Alex Albon who was backing up the pack and slowing Russell’s race progress. In the end the Brit placed P11 narrowly missing out on the points.

2026 Expectations

This year we are yet to see a non-Mercedes race win as Russell took gold down under in Melbourne and Antonelli has maintained a winning streak since his maiden win in Shanghai. Lando Norris just missed out on a win in Miami and will be looking to clinch maximum points. With the McLaren team looking like a strong competitor particularly in Qualifying (which is regarded with higher importance than the race due to the difficulty in overtaking in Monte-Carlo) they are a fan favourite to win. All will be revealed when the chequered flag falls but who do you think will win in Monaco?

Weekend Schedule (track time)

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