General
The Monaco GP isn't always boring: This is proven by these top races
- GPblog.com
The Monaco Grand Prix is not always interesting. The event winner is often decided on the Saturday. Overtaking is difficult, so most of the action can be seen in qualifying. Still, there are plenty of exceptions of races that were exciting on Circuit de Monaco.
1982: The race nobody wanted to win
We'll start this thread with the oldest race in the bunch. In 1982 Alain Prost led the race from the 15th lap until lap number 74. From that point on, nobody seemed to want to win the race. Prost crashed into the wall at the exit of what is now the Nouvelle Chicane, giving Ricardo Patrese the lead.
Patrese could only enjoy the lead for one lap, as he spun when he ran over oil at the hairpin. Didier Pironi took the lead, but even he could not keep it. He had to stop on the last lap in the tunnel. Andrea de Cesaris looked set to take the win but ran out of fuel. Finally, Patrese took over the lead again when he managed to start his car and won the race.
1992: Senna against Mansell
In 1992, Nigel Mansell started his season in a superior way. The Brit won the first five Grands Prix and was allowed to start from pole in Monaco. Not far behind, in P3, was Ayrton Senna. Mansell led 71 of the 78 laps when he thought he had a flat tyre. The Williams driver made a pit stop for new tyres and ended up behind Senna, who took over the lead.
Senna had to defend with all his might against Mansell who was actually much faster, but the Briton could not find a way past the Brazilian. Senna eventually won the race with a lead of 0.2 seconds and managed to win the Monaco Grand Prix for the fifth time in a row.
1996: Three Men at the Finish
1996 was a true madhouse. One after the other, the cars dropped out of the race so that only 13 of the 21 started cars were still racing on the fifth lap. The race which was partly held in the rain was a real battle. In the end, three cars crossed the finish line with a very surprising winner: after a great timed pit stop, Olivier Panis managed to win his first and only race.
2018: Ricciardo's Redemption Day
Daniel Ricciardo took the first step towards victory in Monaco already on Saturday. Indeed, the Australian was the fastest in qualifying and was allowed to start from pole position on Sunday. The win seemed to be secured easily after the start, but after 28 laps Ricciardo was heard on the radio complaining about his engine.
For 50 laps, he had to drive with a problem with the MGU-K, causing him to miss 25% of his power. In addition, only six of the eight gears worked. Ricciardo was fortunate that the track is difficult to overtake because he managed to hold off Sebastian Vettel and won the race: Redemption Day, as he described it.