'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Formula 1 heads to Monte Carlo this weekend for the sixth race of the 2023 season — the Monaco GP.
While the first Monaco Grand Prix took place on 14 April, 1929, it officially became part of the World Championship era in 1948. The event takes place at the Circuit de Monaco, which consists of the city streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine.
The Monaco GP is a unique race on the F1 calendar as it has been on the same circuit since its inception, barring minor changes.
Ayrton Senna is the most successful driver at this event, with six wins. Graham Hill and Michael Schumacher are second, with five victories each, and Alain Prost sits in third with three wins.
Of the current set of F1 drivers, Lewis Hamilton has won the race the most number of times (3) with Fernando Alonso trailing him by one. Red Bull Racing have been successful here in the last two editions, with Sergio Perez winning in 2022 and Max Verstappen in 2021.
On that note, here are seven records that could break at the 2023 Monaco GP:
#1 Max Verstappen could make, and break, more F1 records
If Max Verstappen wins the Monaco GP, he will overtake Sebastian Vettel as the Red Bull Racing driver with the most victories. In doing so, he will also overtake the German as the driver to have won the third-most races with a single team in Formula 1 history.
If the reigning two-time F1 champion triumphs in Monaco, it will make car #1 the first number to win 200 races in F1.
Having scored in every race since the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, a top-10 finish in Monaco will see Verstappen overtake Michael Schumacher’s longest points-scoring streak. It will also put him third in the all-time list of F1’s longest streaks, behind only Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.
#2 The Bulls march on
If Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez wins the Monaco GP, Red Bull Racing will become just the third team to win the first six races of an F1 season. McLaren (1988) and Mercedes (2014, 2019) are the only teams to have achieved this feat so far.
#3 History awaits the British
If George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, or Lando Norris score points in Monaco, it will be the 100th consecutive race where a British driver has won points.
That would make it only the third time a nation has achieved this feat. They will be behind Germany (176 races, 2008 British GP to 2017 Italian GP) and Great Britain themselves (113 races, 2009 Italian GP to 2015 Italian GP).
#4 Chance for Lewis Hamilton to extend his F1 records
Victory in Monaco will also see Lewis Hamilton move into the top 20 of the oldest drivers to win in F1.
He will also overtake Damon Hill as the third-oldest British driver to win in F1. The Briton will replace Kimi Raikkonen as the driver with the longest gap between his first and last wins as well.
A win in Monaco will see Hamilton become only the fifth driver to take four wins at the event. If he finishes on the podium, he will equal Ayrton Senna’s record of eight podium appearances in the Principality.
Hamilton needs seven points to become the driver with the most points in Monaco, a record that's currently held by Sebastian Vettel. If the seven-time world champion completes 59 laps, he’ll become the F1 driver with the second-most laps raced at the event.
Lastly, if the Mercedes driver manages to cross the finish line, he will become the first driver to have completed the Monaco GP 16 times.
#5 Ageless Alonso
If Fernando Alonso wins the 2023 Monaco GP, he will become the oldest driver to win an F1 race since Jack Brabham. The latter won the South Africa GP in 1970 at the age of 43 years, 11 months, and five days.
Alonso could record his 103rd podium finish this weekend, which would see him equal Kimi Raikkonen for fifth on the list of most F1 podium finishes. If the Aston Martin driver completes 39 laps unscathed, he will become the first driver to have raced 1,300 laps at the Circuit de Monaco.
#6 Perez on a purple patch
Sergio Perez has made a strong start to the new F1 season, having won the races in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. If the Mexican emerges victorious at the Monaco GP, 2023 will go down as his most successful F1 season yet.
#7 Records await Ferrari, if the Prancing Horse manages to gallop, at the Monaco GP
A podium finish for either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz will make Ferrari the first team to record 800 podium finishes in F1. Should either driver lead two laps in Monaco, the Maranello-based outfit will become only the second team to have led 800 laps in the event behind McLaren (916).
