Why Is the Monaco GP the Most Popular Race on the Formula 1 Calendar?

If you ask someone about Monaco in any part of the world, you’ll likely get two responses – taxes and Formula 1. And there’s a reason for that. While the former will require a long road down the history lane, the latter is what we’ll discover today.

More specifically, the reason behind the incredible popularity of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Every F1 fan, every F1 driver, and every F1 professional knows that there’s no victory that holds more significance than a win at Monaco. It is the most awaited and most glamorous of all the Grand Prix weekends, with hoards of celebrities flocking in the country-turned racetrack for a few days.

Why is the Monaco GP so popular?

Long before Monaco was known as a glamor and celebrity hotspot in F1, it was first and foremost the ultimate test of a racing driver in the sport.

While most tracks reward the faster car with their long straights and bigger tracks, Monaco’s narrow lanes and almost zero straights test the driver more than the car.

And to do it in front of the glamor and glitz that flocks in year after year, it’s a big fat cherry on top of the tallest cake in Formula 1. In fact, in the modern era, many fans, drivers, and the entire F1 community are mistakingly looking at Monaco simply from the lens of the spectacle it carries.

Undoubtedly, that’s there too.

But if you vacate the stands (and the yachts), the racing test a driver faces would still be there in Monaco. Because racing isn’t only about overtakes and fast cars only; it’s about the mental strength, raw talent, and the rare genius that only a few possess.

Most successful Formula 1 drivers at Monaco

If you didn’t believe it took drivers of legendary pedigree to conquer Monaco, perhaps the list of the names who have done so might be worth looking at.

The drivers with the most wins at Monaco are as follows-

1. Ayrton Senna (6)
2. Michael Schumacher (5)
3. Graham Hill (5)
4. Alain Prost (4)
5. Jackie Stewart (3)
6. Stirling Moss (3)
7. Lewis Hamilton (3)
8. Juan Manuel Fangio (2)
9. Niki Lauda (2)
10. Fernando Alonso (2)

And if there’s one thing that is common to all of these drivers, it is that they’re regarded as some of the greatest drivers in the history of F1.

So now, there’s only one thing that can be said – Monaco is the crown jewel of the crown jewel; that’s why it is where it is.

Also Read: Former Red Bull Driver Explains Why F1 Should Embrace Max Verstappen