What to look for at the 2025 Monaco GP

Somehow, he pulled it out of the bag. On his final run in the last session of qualifying, Michael Schumacher secured a surprise pole position, ensuring he started first at one of the calendar’s toughest circuits. It was the Monaco Grand Prix weekend of 2012, and it was Schumacher’s last pole of his career.

It was a blistering lap around the brutal street circuit, which remains a jewel in F1’s crown nearly 100 years after it first featured in 1929. Schumacher was carrying a five-place grid penalty for a collision with Bruno Senna at the previous race, so he started sixth before retiring due to a fuel pump issue. But the lap demonstrated once again the incredible skill of the seven-time champion. It was also indicative of his work ethic. “You never had to give him encouragement, he was a motivated character whenever he was behind the wheel,” says Peter Bennington, Michael’s then race engineer. “It was a special day. I’ve still got the overlay [of the pole lap] hung up on my wall at home that he signed to me to say thanks. I still look at that every day.”

Mercedes didn’t have much else to cheer about during the 2012 season. But due to Monaco’s narrow layout, it’s one of the few circuits where the driver’s skill is more important than the car’s outright pace. Mercedes didn’t have the quickest car that year, but in qualifying at Monaco, anything can happen.

Fans watching this year’s Monaco GP will certainly be hoping for something exciting to take place. The race has long been considered a procession, and this is especially true in the current hybrid era. It’s always been difficult to overtake at Monaco, due to its unusually narrow layout and lack of credible overtaking zones. But the current cars are bigger than they’ve ever been, making overtaking virtually impossible. Midway through the race last year, Max Verstappen gave his opinion on the radio, “**** me this is boring…should have brought my pillow.”

Will this year be any different? The race organisers certainly hope so. For this year’s event, the FIA has decided to make it a mandatory two-stop race, so each driver must stop at least twice rather than the usual one stop. This has been done ‘with the primary intent of improving the sporting spectacle’, meaning teams will have to think more about strategy. While it won’t make on-track overtaking possible, it might introduce position changes under pit stops. It also might throw some interesting curveballs into the mix. One strategy might be for a team to wait until the last laps of the race to make the second stop, hoping for a safety car so that they save time when they pit and gain places as a result. Whether it will make it more entertaining or not remains to be seen, but it adds another talking point to a weekend known as much for its off-track glamour as its on-track action.

We’re also at an interesting time in the year when it comes to the Driver’s Standings. Coming off the back of an impressive win in Imola, Verstappen will be looking to reassert the dominant form he’s known for. The McLaren drivers meanwhile are still battling for their own inter-team dominance, and while Piastri still leads the championship, Norris has cut it down to 13 points. 

One thing that is guaranteed to make Monaco exciting, less so for those watching from their yachts, is rain. While race day is looking like it will be dry, there is a chance of showers on Saturday. Whether this is the case or not, qualifying will likely be the weekend’s main spectacle, and with Leclerc’s first home win last year and Hamilton’s impressive performance at Imola, we wouldn’t be surprised if the Scuderia finally comes out on top.