Monaco Grand Prix support races explained

The Formula One Monaco Grand Prix has had a support race in many of its editions, the longest running of which was the Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three, held each year from 1964 to 1997, and again in 2005. It replaced the Monaco Grand Prix Formula Junior. The Formula Three race was replaced by Formula 3000 for 1998, which would then become the GP2 Series and then the Formula 2.

The Coupe Prince Ranier was held once in the 1930s, and the Prix de Monte Carlo held twice in the 1950s.

History

Coupe Prince Ranier

The first support race for the Monaco Grand Prix was held in 1936 as a race for 1.5 litre voiturettes, and was won by Prince Bira in an ERA. The Coupe Prince Ranier was repeated the next year but for sports cars instead, won by Laury Schell in a Delahaye. With the Monaco Grand Prix not held in 1938 and the interruption of World War 2, the Coupe Prince Ranier was not held again.[1] [2]

Prix de Monte Carlo

After the first Monaco Grand Prix after the War in 1948, a motorcycle race was held, but this was never repeated. At the next Monaco Grand Prix, in 1950, was the first Prix de Monaco held for 500cc Formula Three cars, and was won by Stirling Moss. After another one-year hiatus the Monaco Grand Prix returned in 1952 now as a sports car race, with the Prix de Monte Carlo held for sports cars up to 2 litres. The Monaco Grand Prix was placed on hiatus again until 1955, but the Prix de Monte Carlo would not return.

Monaco Grand Prix Formula Junior/Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three

The race became a permanent event first as a Formula Junior race in 1959. Formula Junior was replaced by Formula Two and Formula Three in 1964 and the support race was now held with Formula Three cars. A European Formula Three Championship was introduced in 1974 but the Monaco race was not part of it and instead attracted drivers from the various national and international F3 series held in Europe.

After the end of the European Championship it was one of the two unofficial European F3 races along with the Masters of Formula 3. The F3 race was cancelled after 1997. The F3 race was resurrected once again in 2005 as a part of the Formula Three Euroseries, but this championship never returned as it had mostly followed the DTM calendar.

Three drivers have won the Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three support race twice: Peter Arundell for Lotus in 1961 and 1962, Alain Ferté for Oreca in 1981 and 1982 and Gianantonio Pacchioni for Tatuus in 1993 and Prema Powerteam in 1995.

The most successful team in the event is Oreca, who have won the event six times: Alain Ferté in 1981 and 1982, Michel Ferté in 1983, Pierre-Henri Raphanel in 1985, Yannick Dalmas in 1986 and Laurent Aïello in 1990. The next most successful is Martini with four wins (1973, 1977, 1979 and 1980), while Lotus have three (1961, 1962 and 1971). Matra, Prema Powerteam and Bertram Schäfer Racing each have two wins.

Martini chassis won the event ten times between 1973 and 1986, the most of any manufacturer. Dallara have taken eight victories since 1988, while Lotus have four, Cooper have three, and Matra, Tecno, March, Ralt and Reynard all have two.

Formula 3000/GP2/Formula 2

Formula Three was replaced by an International Formula 3000 race in 1998. This was held until 2004, with Formula 3000 replaced by the GP2 Series in 2005. The GP2 Series would itself become the FIA Formula 2 Championship in, and Monaco has had a round every year, as of 2019.

Other races

Formula Renault has held rounds at the Monaco Grand Prix since 2003, first with the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, which was replaced by the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005–2015. More recently the more junior 2 litre Formula Renault series have held races at Monaco. In 2021 this was rebranded as the Formula Regional European Championship.

The GP3 Series made a one-off appearance in 2012.

The Porsche Supercup has supported all Monaco Grands Prix since its inception in 1993.

The FIA Formula 3 Championship made its debut in 2023, replacing the Formula Regional European Championship.[3]

Winners

Coupe Prince Ranier

YearWinnerManufacturerClassResults
1936 B. BiraERAVoituretteResults
1937 Laury SchellDelahayeSports CarsResults

Prix de Monte Carlo

YearWinnerManufacturerClassResults
1950 Stirling MossCooper T11-JAPFormula ThreeResults
1951Not held
1952 Robert ManzonGordiniSports Cars
up to 2 litres
Results

Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three (and Formula Junior)

Note: A pink background denotes a Formula Junior race.

YearWinnerEntrantCarEngineResults
1959 Michael May Michael MayStanguelliniFiatResults
1960 Henry Taylor Ken TyrrellCooper T52BMCResults
1961 Peter Arundell Team LotusLotus 20FordResults
1962 Peter Arundell Team LotusLotus 22FordResults
1963 Richard Attwood Midland Racing PartnershipLola Mk5AFordResults
1964 Jackie Stewart TyrrellCooper T72BMCResults
1965 Peter Revson Ron Harris Racing DivisionLotus 35FordResults
1966 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra SportsMatra MS5FordResults
1967 Henri Pescarolo Matra SportsMatra MS6FordResults
1968 Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Ecurie ArnoldTecno 68FordResults
1969 Ronnie Peterson Squadra RobardieTecno 69FordResults
1970 Tony Trimmer Race Cars InternationalBrabham BT28FordResults
1971 David Walker Gold Leaf Team LotusLotus 69FordResults
1972 Patrick Depailler Societé des Automobiles AlpineAlpine A364RenaultResults
1973 Jacques Laffite BP FranceMartini MK12FordResults
1974 Tom Pryce Ippokampos RacingMarch 743FordResults
1975 Renzo Zorzi Scuderia Mirabella Mille MigliaGRD 374LanciaResults
1976 Bruno Giacomelli March RacingMarch 763ToyotaResults
1977 Didier Pironi Ecurie ElfMartini MK21ToyotaResults
1978 Elio de Angelis Racing Team EverestChevron B38ToyotaResults
1979 Alain Prost Ecurie ElfMartini MK27RenaultResults
1980 Mauro Baldi Automobiles MartiniMartini MK31ToyotaResults
1981 Alain Ferté BP RacingMartini MK34Alfa RomeoResults
1982 Alain Ferté TotalMartini MK37Alfa RomeoResults
1983 Michel Ferté OrecaMartini MK39Alfa RomeoResults
1984 Ivan Capelli Enzo Coloni RacingMartini MK42Alfa RomeoResults
1985 Pierre-Henri Raphanel OrecaMartini MK45Alfa RomeoResults
1986 Yannick Dalmas OrecaMartini MK49VolkswagenResults
1987 Didier Artzet Monaco SponsoringRalt RT31VolkswagenResults
1988 Enrico Bertaggia Forti CorseDallara F388Alfa RomeoResults
1989 Antonio Tamburini Prema RacingReynard 893Alfa RomeoResults
1990 Laurent Aïello OrecaDallara F390VolkswagenResults
1991 Jörg Müller Bongers MotorsportReynard 913VolkswagenResults
1992 Marco Werner G+M Escom MotorsportRalt RT36OpelResults
1993 Gianantonio Pacchioni TatuusDallara F393FiatResults
1994 Giancarlo Fisichella RC MotorsportDallara F394OpelResults
1995 Gianantonio Pacchioni Prema PowerteamDallara F395FiatResults
1996 Marcel Tiemann Opel Team BSRDallara F396OpelResults
1997 Nick Heidfeld Opel Team BSRDallara F397OpelResults
1998

2004
Not held
2005 Lewis Hamilton ASM Formule 3Dallara F305MercedesResults

International Formula 3000 Championship

YearDriverResults
1998 Nick HeidfeldResults
1999 Gonzalo RodríguezResults
2000 Bruno JunqueiraResults
2001 Mark WebberResults
2002 Sébastien BourdaisResults
2003 Nicolas KiesaResults
2004 Vitantonio LiuzziResults

Formula Renault V6 Eurocup

YearDriver
2003 Jaime Melo
2004 Neel Jani

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

YearDriver
2005 Christian Montanari
2006 Pastor Maldonado
2007 Álvaro Parente
2008 Charles Pic
2009 Oliver Turvey
2010 Daniel Ricciardo
2011 Daniel Ricciardo
2012 Sam Bird
2013 Nico Müller
2014 Norman Nato
2015 Jazeman Jaafar

GP2 Series

YearRaceDriverResults
2005 Adam CarrollResults
2006 Lewis HamiltonResults
2007 Pastor MaldonadoResults
2008Feature Bruno SennaResults
Sprint Mike Conway
2009Feature Romain GrosjeanResults
Sprint Pastor Maldonado
2010Feature Sergio PérezResults
Sprint Jérôme d'Ambrosio
2011Feature Davide ValsecchiResults
Sprint Charles Pic
2012Feature Johnny Cecotto Jr.Results
Sprint Jolyon Palmer
2013Feature Sam BirdResults
Sprint Stefano Coletti
2014Feature Jolyon PalmerResults
Sprint Stéphane Richelmi
2015Feature Stoffel VandoorneResults
Sprint Richie Stanaway
2016Feature Artem MarkelovResults
Sprint Nobuharu Matsushita

GP3 Series

YearRaceDriverReport
2012Race 1 Aaro VainioResults
Race 2 Marlon Stöckinger

FIA Formula 2 Championship

YearRaceDriverTeamReport
2017Feature Oliver RowlandDAMSReport
Sprint Nyck de VriesRapax
2018Feature Artem MarkelovRussian TimeReport
Sprint Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System
2019Feature Nyck de VriesART Grand PrixReport
Sprint Anthoine HubertBWT Arden
2021Sprint 1 Guanyu ZhouUNI-Virtuosi RacingReport
Sprint 2 Dan TicktumCarlin
Feature Théo PourchaireART Grand Prix
2022Sprint Dennis HaugerPrema RacingReport
Feature Felipe DrugovichMP Motorsport
2023Sprint Ayumu IwasaDAMSReport
Feature Frederik VestiPrema Racing
2024Sprint Taylor BarnardAIX RacingReport
Feature Zak O'SullivanART Grand Prix

FIA Formula 3 Championship

YearRaceDriverTeamReport
2023Sprint Pepe MartíCampos RacingReport
Feature Gabriele MiniHitech Pulse-Eight
2024Sprint Nikola TsolovART Grand PrixReport
Feature Gabriele MiniPrema Racing

References

General

Specific

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hodges . David . The Monaco Grand Prix . 1964.
  2. Book: Higham . Peter . The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing . 1995 . Guinness . 0851126421.
  3. Web site: Monaco GP organiser confirms return of F3 to support bill for 2023. 2022-10-04. 2024-06-08. Ida. Wood. Formula Scout.