The

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Monaco Grand Prix The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigiou ...

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 Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh ( th, พีรพงศ์ภาณุเดช; ; 15 July 191423 December 1985), better known as Prince Bira of Siam (now Thailand) or by his ''nom de course'' B. Bira, was a member of the Chakri dyna ...

in an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

. The Coupe Prince Ranier was repeated the next year but for sports cars instead, won by

Laury Schell Laury is a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: *Booker T. Laury (1914–1995), American boogie-woogie, blues, gospel and jazz pianist and singer *David Laury (born 1990), American basketball player *Jean Ray Lau ...

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.

Prix de Monte Carlo

After the first Monaco Grand Prix after the War in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, 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 Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...

. 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 Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level class ...

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 DTM may refer to: Sport * Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000 * Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995 Computing * Deterministic T ...

calendar. Three drivers have won the Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three support race twice:

Peter Arundell Peter Arundell (8 November 1933 – 16 June 2009) was a British racing driver from England, who raced in Formula One for Team Lotus. He participated in 13 World Championship Grands Prix, scoring 12 championship points. Born in Ilford, Essex, Ar ...

for

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

in 1961 and 1962, Alain Ferté for Oreca in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and Gianantonio Pacchioni for

Tatuus Tatuus is an Italian chassis manufacturer for a series of formula racing series, being first founded in 1980. The company is known for its association with Renault Sport for its production of the Formula Renault chassis. History The Tatuus ...

in 1993 and

Prema Powerteam Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. The most successful team in the event is Oreca, who have won the event six times: Alain Ferté in

and

Michel Ferté Michel Ferté (8 December 1958 – 4 January 2023) was a French professional racing driver. He was the younger brother of Alain Ferté, who is also a professional racing driver. Ferté competed five seasons in Formula 3000 from 1985 to 1989. Fe ...

in 1983,

Pierre-Henri Raphanel Pierre-Henri Raphanel (born 27 May 1961) is a French former racing driver. He participated in 17 Formula One Grands Prix for Larrousse, Coloni and Rial, debuting on 13 November 1988. He only qualified for one race, the 1989 Monaco Grand Prix, ...

in 1985, Yannick Dalmas in 1986 and

Laurent Aïello Laurent Aïello (born 23 May 1969 in Fontenay-aux-Roses) is a French former race car driver, most notable for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998, the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 1999, and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. The next most successful is Martini with four wins (1973, 1977, 1979 and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

), while

have three (1961, 1962 and 1971). Matra,

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 Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...

have taken eight victories since 1988, while

have four,

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

have three, and

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and we ...

, Tecno, March,

Ralt Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under t ...

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 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. 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 Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to hig ...

has held rounds at the Monaco Grand Prix since 2003, first with the

Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Formula Renault V6 Eurocup is a former type of formula racing, active from 2003 to 2004, started by Renault as a support series in Eurosport's Super Racing Weekends (ETCC and FIA GT Championship). It was a Formula Renault 3.5 that include also W ...

, which was replaced by the

Formula Renault 3.5 Series The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

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 by Alpine The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) is a FIA-certified regional European Formula 3 racing series. On 12 October 2018 it was announced that the Italian autosport regulator Automobile Club d’Italia (ACI) and karting prom ...

. The GP3 Series made a one-off appearance in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

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

History

Coupe Prince Ranier

Prix de Monte Carlo

Monaco Grand Prix Formula Junior/Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three

Formula 3000/GP2/Formula 2

Other races

Winners

Coupe Prince Ranier

Prix de Monte Carlo

Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three (and Formula Junior)

International Formula 3000 Championship

GP2 Series

FIA Formula 2 Championship

See also

Notes

References