9 World Champions who never won the Monaco Grand Prix

Since the Circuit de Monaco's inaugural race in 1929, this track has been one of the most prestigious tracks, and one of the most difficult races to win.

This narrow course laid down in the streets of Monaco, with several variations in elevation and many tight corners, makes it one of the most demanding tracks in Formula 1 and is a threat to any professional race driver.

But, due to very limited opportunities and space to overtake, the Monaco Grand Prix can also be the "most boring race" (as described by Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso).

Since the first F1 race in 1953, the Monaco Grand Prix has had many famous winners. Ayrton Senna, the legendary Brazillian has won the most number of races (6), and McLaren have been the successful team, here in Monaco.

But, there are a few notable former World Champions who have never been successful at Monaco. Let's take a look at 9 World Champions who have failed to win at Monaco even once:

#9 Nigel Mansell

The English F1 driver, won the World Championship in 1992, driving for Williams, during the final years of his career. He retired immediately after becoming the Champion, only to return a year later.

Mansell has the 7th most number of wins (31), in the history of the sport, but none of them came at Monaco. The closest he came was in 1987 and 1992. In 1987, the Brit was in pole position almost halfway into the race but, retired shortly after an engine failure.

In 1992, Mansell was dominating the race, until a puncture to his tire forced him to make a late pit stop. He was behind Ayrton Senna in the latter part of the race, and due to limited opportunities to overtake, he finished the race behind Senna.

#8 Jim Clark

The Scottish F1 driver is regarded as one of the best drivers in the history of the sport. He won 2 Wolrd Championships during the course of his career, in 1962 and 1964.

He has 25 wins and 32 podium finishes under his name but, he's never won at Monaco. In fact, the Scotsman never even earned a podium finish. His best result came in 1964, which was 4th.

Clark started Monaco in pole position thrice but, failed every single time. In 1963, he led half the race but, retired due to a gearbox failure.

#7 Emerson Fittipaldi

The Brazillian Formula 1 driver is a two-time World Champion (1972, 1974). During his 10-year career, he managed to earn 14 Grand Prix wins and 35 podium finishes but, unfortunately, Monaco was never in the picture.

Fittipaldi finished on the podium in 4 consecutive seasons but, failed to win it every single time. In 1975, the Brazillian came closest to winning the coveted Grand Prix but, sadly could not overtake Nikkia Lauda in the McLaren.

He then moved to his own team - Fittipaldi Automotive - and ever since, failed to come close to winning the Monaco GP.

#6 Alberto Ascari

The Italian was one of the race drivers to take part in the inaugural Monaco Grand Prix that took place in 1950. He has raced for Ferrari, Maserati, and Lancia, and is a double world champion (1952 and 1953).

Ascari was the runner-up in 1950 and during his Championship years, Monaco was not in the calendar. But, the track returned in 1955, which was the Italian's final year as an F1 driver. Just when he was about to take the lead, Ascari crashed into the harbour, with 20 laps remaining.

That, sadly turned out to be his final race, and he retired on the same track he made his debut on.

#5 Mario Andretti

The Italian born former F1 driver is one of the most successful American drivers in the history of this sport. He has 12 wins and 19 podium finishes to his name, and also won the world championship in 1978.

He raced at Monaco eight times, and his record isn't that impressive. He even failed to qualify once in 1971. His best finish was 5th in 1977. In his Championship winning year, he managed to qualify 4th, but due to a fuel leakage issue, slipped way back.

#4 Alan Jones

He was the only the second Australian to win the world championship in 1980 and was the first driver to do so in a Williams car. In his almost 11-year career, he managed to grab 12 Grand Prix victories and 24 podium finishes.

Jones probably came closest to winning the Monaco Grand Prix amongst others in this list. He failed to win at Monaco in his Championship winning year but, came closest in 1981.

After Nelson Piquet had spun out of the race, Jones took a huge lead in the race. But, due to the engine in his Williams car, he had to make multiple pit stops. Gilles Villeneuve took the lead away from Jones and grabbed a famous victory.

#3 Jaques Villeneuve

Although he was more successful than his father Gilles Villeneuve in the sport, he failed to match the success of Gilles at Monaco. Jaque won his first and only World Championship in the year 1997 with Williams.

In 1996, the Canadian crashed into a backmarker in the latter half of the race and in 1997, he crashed into the walls, very early on in the race. These were his best chances to win at Monaco, as his competitive career, pretty much ended in 1997. He did finish 4th in 2001 while racing for BAR.

#2 Damon Hill

The British driver won the world championship in the year 1996. He and Nico Rosberg are the only two champions who are the sons of former world champions (Damon Hill being the son of Graham Hill).

Graham Hill won the Monaco Grand Prix 5 times, but his son failed to score a victory even once. All throughout the '90s and his Championship years, Hill was equipped with a fast Williams car but, unfortunately, bad luck prevented him to win at Monaco.

He finished 2nd in 1993 and 1995 but, the closest he came was in 1996. Hill dominated almost throughout the entire race, but sadly due to an engine failure, he had to retire out of the race.

#1 Nelson Piquet

Piquet crashing out of the Monaco Grand Prix

Piquet is probably the most successful F1 drivers who has never won the Monaco Grand Prix. During his hugely successful career, he managed to become a triple world champion (1981, 1983, 1987).

The Brazillian has 23 wins to his name and 60 podium finishes. He started the Monaco GP 12 times, and failed to win it even once. He came closest in 1981, when he led the race for 58 laps, but spun out at the last moment.

Piquet was never good at Monaco and always qualified quite low in the grid. It could be because of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, during the time, who dominated at Monaco, winning the race 10 times.

Edited by Sripad