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Winning the Monaco GP, which is known as the 'Crown Jewel' of F1, is a dream of every driver racing in motorsport. The race is a part of the 'Triple Crown', which is the ultimate achievement in motorsport and has only been achieved once by Graham Hill.
Interestingly, Hill won Monaco GP five times in his career and is known as 'Mr. Monaco'. Like him, many great drivers have won this iconic race in their careers. Yet, there are some who have been struck by the infamous Monaco curse and lost a chance at glory through no fault of their own.
Below is the list of five drivers who have been struck by this curse.
Nigel Mansell at the 1992 Monaco GP
Heading into Monaco, Mansell had won every single race in the 1992 season thus far and in the principality, it was no different as he took his sixth pole out of six for the main race.
It was all going smoothly for him and he was marching towards his first win in Monaco. But on lap 60, a loose wheel nut in his Williams forced him to pit and he rejoined behind Ayrton Senna in second. He couldn't pass the Brazilian and came home second and ended his career without a win in Monaco.
Lewis Hamilton in 2015
During the first virtual safety car period in F1, Mercedes decided to pit Nico Rosberg but soon the full safety car was installed and they called in Hamilton from the race lead.
However, the team miscalculated and paid the price after the Brit joined the race in third from first. On the podium, the then-two-time world champion was left speechless by the events that were simply out of his control.
Daniel Ricciardo 2016
Arguably his best season in F1, Daniel Ricciardo was untouchable in the 2016 Monaco GP as he took his first pole position and led in the race in the rainy conditions.
But all his hard work was left in the mud as Red Bull made a rare error in the pitstop after they did not have the tires ready when the Aussie came into the pits. The error gave the lead to Lewis Hamilton, who defended Ricciardo throughout and won the race. The 'Happy Australian' could not hide his emotions and was visibly angry and was not in the mood for excuses.
Nico Hulkenberg 2016
The German found himself in contention for a surprise podium after the first round of pitstops at the Monaco GP. Hulkenberg, who has not yet achieved a podium to date, was looked over by Force India in the race as they gave the preferred strategy to his teammate Sergio Perez, which gave the Mexican a podium in the race.
Charles Leclerc 2022
Despite being his home race and being in pole position twice, Charles Leclerc has never won the Monaco GP. He had a golden opportunity in 2022 but was once again let down by Ferrari's pitstop blunders which not only denied him the chance to win the race but also put him out of the podium spot as he finished fourth from the pole position.
