Monaco Grand Prix 2025: A Reckoning in the Streets
The Streets Are Alive (But Are We?)
It’s that time of year again: the circus has rolled into Monte Carlo, the yachts are moored, and the world’s most expensive game of slot cars is about to begin. The Monaco Grand Prix, F1’s most iconic and, let’s be honest, most divisive race, is upon us. The 2025 edition arrives with more baggage than a Ferrari strategist at Heathrow, and for once, the headlines are not just about who’s sipping rosé on whose boat.
This year, the Principality is not just hosting a race—it’s hosting a reckoning. The FIA, in a rare fit of proactivity, has thrown a mandatory two-stop rule into the mix, hoping to spice up a Sunday that, in recent years, has been as processional as a royal wedding rehearsal. The top three in the championship—Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, and Max Verstappen—are separated by less than a race win. McLaren is resurgent, Red Bull is plotting, Ferrari is… well, Ferrari. And the ghosts of Monaco’s past are watching, as always, from the shadows of the Casino.
The Two-Stop Tango: FIA’s Desperate Gambit
Let’s address the elephant in the room—or rather, the bus in the tunnel. Monaco’s race has become, to borrow from Max Verstappen’s own words after last year’s parade, “really boring… I should’ve brought my pillow.” The 2024 edition saw just four overtakes in 78 laps, and the top ten finished exactly as they started. The FIA’s solution? Force everyone to pit twice, rain or shine, and hope that chaos ensues.
Bernie Collins of Sky Sports F1 put it:
Monaco is such that you can pace manage the stint by driving slowly and make any tyre basically last the entire race, because the overtaking threshold in Monaco is something like two and a half seconds that you need to be quicker to overtake… So last year we had a Monaco where everyone stopped under the red flag, so there were very few pit stops. And then basically, the majority of the field ran the whole race without any other interaction. So, this is just to prevent that from happening again.
Drivers, for the most part, have welcomed the change. Charles Leclerc, last year’s home hero, told Sky:
I think it will definitely help the Sunday, especially with strategy. The excitement on Sunday is maybe a bit less than what you will hope.
Arthur Leclerc, never one to miss a chance to echo his brother, added:
I think it’s good to have two mandatory pit stops because it will bring a bit more action and unpredictability to the race, and it will also allow the drivers to push their tyres harder. The last few races were all about tyre management.
Will it work? History suggests that Monaco’s DNA is resistant to change. The circuit has been a fixture since 1950, and the last time a rule tweak truly shook things up here, Ayrton Senna was still haunting the barriers at Portier. But if nothing else, the two-stop rule will force strategists to earn their keep—and perhaps, just perhaps, give us a Sunday worth watching.
Watch: “Is Max Verstappen about to spoil the McLaren party?” – Sky Sports F1
McLaren’s Papaya Renaissance
If you’d told me two years ago that McLaren would be leading both championships heading into Monaco, I’d have checked your coffee for suspicious substances. Yet here we are: Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have five wins between them, and the papaya squad leads the constructors’ by a whopping 132 points. Their form has been so strong that even Max Verstappen, the perennial disruptor, has been forced to play catch-up.
McLaren is marking the occasion with a “Riviera-inspired” livery, a nod to Bruce McLaren’s first win in 1968 and the team’s storied history in the Principality. Louise McEwen, McLaren’s Chief Marketing Officer, gushed:
We’re always proud to be able to celebrate our storied legacy. Working with OKX on this latest livery enhancement is a great way to not only celebrate this history, but also the innovation and forward-thinking nature that inspires both McLaren and OKX brands. I can’t wait to see the cars on track over the next two race weekends.
But nostalgia only gets you so far. The real question is whether McLaren’s current form can withstand the unique demands of Monaco. The slow-speed corners should suit the MCL39, and Piastri’s confidence on the limit is well documented.
ESPN’s preview is bullish:
The slow speed corners should play to the strengths of McLaren, making either Lando Norris or Piastri the favourite. Piastri’s extra confidence in the car when it’s on the limit this year is well documented, and for that reason he’s our pick to win from pole position this weekend.
Red Bull: Still in the Fight, or Just Fighting?
Red Bull’s 2025 campaign has been a study in contrasts. Max Verstappen remains a force of nature, with two wins—including a masterclass at Imola, where he mugged Piastri at Tamburello and never looked back. But the RB21 is a diva, with a “narrow operating window” that has left Verstappen’s teammates floundering.
Daniil Kvyat, never one to mince words, told Formula1.com:
Obviously in Red Bull, it’s a fast car still, but it seems to have a very narrow operating window, and obviously when you have a lot of experience with that car, as an engineer and driver, you can make a big difference, and you can still make that car very fast – if you put it in the operating window. Then if you don’t, obviously it seems like it’s far behind McLaren, but I think when it is in the operating window, it’s up there with McLaren.
The second seat at Red Bull has become a poisoned chalice. Liam Lawson was dropped after two races, replaced by Yuki Tsunoda, who promptly binned it in qualifying at Imola and limped home tenth. The Verstappen-centric development philosophy is yielding diminishing returns, and the team’s internal politics are starting to resemble a particularly vicious episode of “Yes Minister.”
Meanwhile, the technical intrigue continues. Red Bull’s questions to the FIA about McLaren’s alleged tyre cooling tricks have fueled a fresh round of paddock paranoia.
The Race reports:
The TD that the FIA sent out on wheel bodywork in relation to tyre cooling was not one that stipulated any change in interpretation of the regulations. Instead, it was just publishing correspondence that had taken place between Red Bull and the FIA technical department about some tyre cooling ideas… The most fascinating part about the correspondence is some of the design ideas put forward by Red Bull as ways that could potentially help with managing tyre temperatures.
If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying. Or, as Ron Dennis once said, “The best way to keep a secret is to keep it to yourself.”
Watch: “Inside Verstappen’s Spectacular Lap 1 Overtake On Piastri” – F1
Ferrari: Hope Springs Eternal (and Occasionally Leaks Oil)
Ferrari’s 2025 has been a rollercoaster, and not the fun kind. After a dismal showing in Miami, Imola brought a glimmer of hope: Charles Leclerc nabbed a podium, and Lewis Hamilton—yes, that Lewis Hamilton, now in red—nearly joined him. The mood in Maranello is cautiously optimistic, which, for Ferrari, is as good as it gets.
Hamilton, ever the diplomat, said after Imola:
It was a really great feeling to fight back to P4. I’m starting to feel a synergy and connection with the car that has generally been lacking this year.
But Ferrari’s real challenge is consistency. The SF-25 is quick in the right conditions, but Monaco is a different beast. Leclerc’s home win last year broke the so-called “Monaco curse,” but repeating the feat will require a perfect weekend—and, perhaps, a little divine intervention.
Instagram: McLaren’s Riviera Livery Reveal
Williams and the Midfield: Bridging the Gap
While the headlines focus on the big three, Williams has quietly become the feel-good story of 2025. Alex Albon has scored back-to-back fifth places, and the Grove team is suddenly a podium threat on merit. Team Principal James Vowles is bullish:
There is huge potential for the team to do well in the Principality.
The midfield remains a knife fight, with Mercedes, Aston Martin, and Alpine all capable of springing a surprise. But as always in Monaco, qualifying is king. As Nelson Piquet once said, “It’s like riding a bicycle around your living room.” One mistake, and your weekend is over.
Monaco: Still the Jewel, or Just Costume Jewelry?
The debate over Monaco’s place in F1 rages on. The circuit is an anachronism, a relic of a bygone era when cars were smaller, drivers were braver, and the only “DRS” was the one you filled out at customs. Overtaking is nearly impossible, and the spectacle is as much about the setting as the racing.
Yet, for all its flaws, Monaco endures. As Lando Norris put it:
It has never been the most exciting race, it’s not a great Sunday so I wouldn’t put it [as the] biggest race of the year. But it has been like this since Monaco started. Monaco is still special, it still means just as much as it always has for every driver and every team member.
The race’s future is secure, at least for now. A new six-year deal was signed in 2024, and from 2026, the event will move to the first weekend in June. The local TV monopoly is gone, and the FIA is determined to keep Monaco relevant. Whether the two-stop rule will save the spectacle or simply add another layer of confusion remains to be seen.
The Numbers Game: Monaco by the Stats
- 70 Monaco Grands Prix since 1950
- 37 different winners; 32 wins from pole
- Most wins: Ayrton Senna (6)
- Most poles: Senna (5)
- Last year’s winner: Charles Leclerc (from pole)
- Average overtakes per race (last 10 years): 10 (2024: 4 overtakes)
- McLaren: 15 Monaco wins, but none since 2008
As ESPN notes, “Monaco is tied with the German Grand Prix for most all-time wins from pole.” In other words: if you want to win, qualify first. The rest is just theatre.
Waste a Bit More Time
For those who, like me, believe that no rabbit hole is too deep, here’s your Monaco homework:
- What F1 fans need to know about the Monaco GP rule change | Motorsport.com
- Has F1’s iconic Monaco Grand Prix become boring? | BBC Sport
- McLaren reveal tweaked ‘Riviera-inspired’ livery for Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix | Formula1.com
- Revealed: Five wild Red Bull theories for McLaren’s tyre tricks | The Race
- Monaco Grand Prix: F1 session times, predictions, stats | ESPN
- X: Sky Sports F1
