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The Monaco Grand Prix returns to our screens this weekend and it is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious, historic and glamorous events on not just Formula 1’s calendar, but the sport as a whole.
The streets of the principality are famed for the tight, bumpy and undulating characteristics that make Grand Prix cars dance around them in a way that is utterly unique. The race is sometimes called a precession because it is extremely hard to overtake, but if you look at the history of the event, it is rarely so simple.
So, with that in mind, here are the most thrilling Monaco Grands Prix ever.
#5 - Hamilton’s Recovery
It was a Ferrari front-row lockout for the 2008 race, which started in rainy conditions. Lewis Hamilton - a man who always excels on a wet track - passed Kimi Raikkonen at the start to move into second place while Felipe Massa maintained his pole position. Hamilton though was caught out by the tricky conditions on Lap 6 of 76, sliding wide at Tabac and getting a puncture for a good measure. He crawled back to the pits and re-emerged in fifth.
Massa continued to lead but the Safety Car (brought out for David Coulthard and Sebastian Bourdais' crash) eliminated the Brazilian's advantage over the rest of the field. Raikkonen was handed a drive-through penalty for not having his tyres fitted before the three-minute warning before the start of the race. Both Massa and Robert Kubica both made their pit-stops which meant the Hamilton was now into the lead by Lap 33.
Lewis still had to pit - unlike his rivals - but his pace was electrifying, pulling out a gap of 37 seconds over Massa. The track eventually dried out and Hamilton maintained his lead throughout his second stop to complete an amazing comeback to achieve his first win at Monaco.
#4 - Senna v Mansell
The 1992 Williams was one of F1’s most dominant in history and Nigel Mansell had won the first five rounds of the season before arriving in Monaco. Mansell already looked like champion-elect and was on pole one more, with his teammate Riccardo Patrese alongside him on the starting grid. Ayrton Senna - the winner of the last three Monaco Grands Prix- jumped Patrese at the start but Mansell lead going round Sainte Devote.
Mansell dominated the race and in the days before tyre stops became mandatory, never relinquished his lead. After 70 or 78 Laps, his advantage over Senna was huge but disaster struck. A wheel nut came loose on the Briton’s car and he had to pit for new tyres. Senna took the lead but Mansell smashed the lap record to catch back up after just a few laps, he was right on the McLaren’s gearbox.
Nigel was so much faster than Senna, but the Brazilian had track position. Even so, Mansell was all over him, trying to dive through at every corner but they never touched, this was a classic example of two great champions at the top of their games.
But Senna held on, against all the odds, to equal Graham Hill’s record of five wins in the principality, a superb achievement.
#3 - A Star is Born
A Monaco monsoon drowned the circuit back in 1984 in what has to be one of the wettest races in Grand Prix history. Alain Prost in his McLaren led away at the start with Nigel Mansell’s Lotus following closely behind. After seven laps, Mansell made a move for the lead and passed Prost. The Englishman held the first place until he lost the rear of his car just before the Casino.
Prost retook the lead with his teammate Niki Lauda in second but sensationally, a then-unknown Ayrton Senna was third in his Toleman. It took the Brazilian rookie only a few laps to pass double world champion, Lauda and he set about catching Prost for the lead.
Senna was catching Prost by over 3 seconds a lap at times and this rattled the Frenchman. He waved his hands in the air to stop the race and he got his wish, as the red flag was brought out a lap later. Prost pulled over by the start/finish line but did not cross it before Senna did.
Senna coasted around the circuit, waving his fist in the air in sheer ecstasy as if he had won but sadly when a race is red-flagged the positions from the previous lap are taken as the results. His time would come though.
#2 - The Most Unlikely Winner Ever
There was another wet start to the Monaco Grand Prix back in 1996 and this race has gone down in folklore as one of the craziest of all time. Damon Hill got the jump on polesitter Michael Schumacher at the start but it got worse for the German, as he slid wide at Portier and broke his suspension. Hill looked almost certain to emulate his late father but his engine failed at the halfway stage and he was also out.
That meant that Jean Alesi in his Benetton now lead but this didn’t last either, as his suspension failed after 60 of the 75 Laps that day. That all meant that Olivier Panis in the Ligier now somehow lead the Grand Prix. He held off David Coulthard’s McLaren to earn Ligier’s one and only F1 victory after starting all the way down in 14th. Who says you can’t overtake at Monaco?
In the end, Panis, Coulthard and Johnny Herbert's Sauber were the only ones to actually cross the line, a record-low amount of finishers and something that won't be broken for a long time - if ever.
#1 - The Race That Nobody Wanted to Win
Nothing, not even 1996, can top what happened back in 1982 for sheer chaos. Rene Arnoux started the race from pole position and held the lead going into Turn 1 as his teammate, Alain Prost, made excellent progress up the field by passing both Riccardo Patrese and Bruno Giacomelli in the early stages. Things were looking good for a Renault 1-2 until Arnoux spun at the Swimming Pool and was out with a stalled engine on Lap 14.
Prost assumed the lead and held it all the way until Lap 73 of 76 when the rain began to fall and he violently slammed into the barriers at the Chicane. Riccardo Patrese only had to keep going in his Brabham to win but he couldn’t manage it, spinning at the hairpin and handing the lead to Didier Pironi.
However, the Ferrari was a very thirsty car and Pironi stopped in the tunnel just over a lap later after running out of fuel. Andrea de Cesaris or Derek Daly would’ve taken the lead but both had separate incidents and they joined the ever-growing list of retirements thanks to an empty fuel tank and an accident, respectively.
Incredibly, this now meant that Patrese once again took the lead to win his first Grand Prix. Pironi was classified second and de Cesaris was third despite both of them running out of fuel.
That's our picks for the best Monaco GPs of all-time, but which is your favourite? 1982 or another classic? Let us know in the comments below!
