Monaco was once the crown jewel of Formula One racing, which is why it features as one-third of motorsport’s Triple Crown. The other two legs of the legendary feat include the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the fastest race on Earth, the Indy 500.
Yet over the decades, the Grand Prix in the principality has lost some of its allure. During the financial crisis in the late aughts, companies were afraid of being seen as ‘living it up’ in Monaco, while banks were going bust and people were losing their life savings.
The Shift to Emerging Financial Hubs
Furthermore, Singapore has become a juggernaut in the global financial landscape. Despite having a land area smaller than New York City, the city-state punches well above its weight, consistently ranking as a top-four global financial centre alongside New York, London, and Hong Kong according to the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI).
And so now, the hospitality surrounding many of the global corporations’ big deals is done during the week of the Singapore Grand Prix. Monaco faces significant technical issues too; the circuit has changed little in a hundred years, but the cars now have a footprint double the size of their early predecessors.
Procedural Sunday Processions
This makes overtaking nigh on impossible, and for the first time in F1 history in 2024, the top ten in qualifying finished in the exact same order as they started the race. While the Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) long maintained that changes were structurally impossible, concrete proposals are now being openly pushed by drivers and team bosses to future-proof the event.
Following a severe backlash over a lack of on-track action, momentum has shifted from adjusting race regulations to physically altering the historic street circuit. The Sunday procession is no longer acceptable, with a definitive three-step architectural plan being brought forward by Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) director Alex Wurz.
Relocating the Nouvelle Chicane
This focuses on altering the circuit while respecting the constraints of the Principality’s ancient history. First up is the proposed relocation of the Nouvelle Chicane, which Wurz argues currently sits too close to the exit of the tunnel. This makes it too easy for the drivers to defend an overtaking move, and the shortest ‘straight’ in F1 at around 500 metres could be increased by around 50%.
This much longer ‘straight’ extends the braking zone. By forcing a deeper, harder braking event, a chasing car has a realistic opportunity to execute a clean overtake before the left-right sequence.
Widening the Fairmont Hairpin Radius
The Fairmont (formerly Loews) Hairpin is the slowest corner on the F1 calendar. As it stands, it is a single-file bottleneck where overtaking is mathematically impossible unless the car ahead suffers a mechanical failure. The plan is to widen the track entry and exit by roughly 2.4 metres. This involves eliminating the traditional kerbs on the exit and paving the asphalt directly to the exterior structural walls.
Opening up the radius allows trailing drivers to attempt an inside “dive bomb” lunging manoeuvre. Even if the pass isn’t completed immediately, it forces the leading driver to take a heavily compromised, defensive line, destroying their momentum heading into the tunnel and setting up an overtake later in the lap.
Reprofiling La Rascasse
The final change is at the tight Rascasse corner leading onto the pit straight. While it is tough to do much with due to an immovable car park ramp on the exterior of the circuit, moving the boundary of the apex 2–3 metres would significantly change the available lines.
Much like the hairpin changes, altering the entry line opens up the inside track. A lead driver will either have to actively cover the inside or leave the door completely open. If they choose to defend, it dramatically slows their exit speed, punching up the field and creating intense pressure on the pit straight.
Land Reclamation and Historic Concessions
While Alex Wurz’s blueprint focuses on modifying existing corners, while Christian Horner has urged the principality to look at the massive amount of land Monaco has reclaimed from the sea over recent decades. Proposals have been floated to use completely new road loops—such as hanging a left instead of a right turn at Portier to head toward the Beach Plaza Hotel—before looping back to the tunnel entrance to artificially inject a brand-new, wide overtaking arena.
Over the years, Monaco enjoyed a privileged place on the F1 calendar, given it is believed the monarchy lent Bernie Ecclestone the money to buy the commercial rights to the sport. For years they were allowed to control the TV broadcast like no other circuit has done since the 1990s and receive the revenue from the on-track advertising.
The tradition of holding the first two practice sessions on Thursday before giving the drivers a day off on Friday has also been abandoned, and the organisers will have to face up to circuit modifications in the near future.
Active Aerodynamics Restrictions for 2026
For the 2026 Grand Prix next week, the FIA has decided to tweak the racing rules in connection with the active aerodynamics. Due to the lack of a ‘straight’ worth talking about, straight mode will not be available to the drivers and the front and rear wings will remain in their default higher-angled cornering position.
Straight mode is only available if there is a section of the circuit where it can be deployed for at least 3 seconds. The run from Portier through the tunnel to the Nouvelle Chicane is not a straight, but a 500-metre curve.
Drivers will still have access to overtake mode, where they can deploy a burst of electrical power if they are less than one second behind the car ahead at a specified place on the circuit. The detection point for the one-second deficit will be located at Rascasse (Turn 18), and the activation zone will be along the start-finish straight.
Despite the 2026 cars being able to follow more closely this year, as evidenced by the Mercedes drivers’ duel in Montreal, sadly in Monaco it is unlikely we will see a similar spectacle, given the electrical energy deployment zones are fairly predictable and each team will set up their engine mapping to reflect this.
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A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
