If there’s one Formula 1 race that every driver desperately wants to win, it’s the Monaco Grand Prix . It is the most famous race of the highest category in the world, and in fact is part of the famous Triple Crown , along with the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
A victory on the streets of Monte Carlo, where the first Grand Prix was held in 1929, is very special. A triumph that seems reserved only for the really big ones, as Ayrton Senna (six wins there), Michael Schumacher (five) and Graham Hill (five) demonstrate, but the enormous difficulties of the track also allow unexpected winners.
In fact, there are several drivers who have only won in Monaco… and nowhere else. Here are some examples and their stories.
2004: Jarno Trulli breaks Schumacher’s streak, with Alonso’s accident
The youngest winner in Monaco is Jarno Trulli, who won in 2004. Michael Schumacher won the first 13 races of the season in a dominant Ferrari, except in the Principality.
By Saturday in Monaco, Trulli had already taken his first pole position (he would go on to four in F1), and dominated the race from start to finish in his Renault, despite the safety car being introduced.
His biggest rival was his teammate Fernando Alonso, who suffered an accident at the exit of the tunnel while lapping Ralf Schumacher. During that safety car, Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya also touched the tunnel and the Ferrari one left, leaving the way clear for Trulli.
In the end, the Italian crossed the line half a second ahead of BAR driver Jenson Button. He had already achieved three podium finishes: two third places with Renault and a second place with Prost in the chaotic 1999 Nürburgring race.
However, that would be Trulli’s only victory in Formula 1. Before the end of the season, he left Renault and went to Toyota. Later, in Formula E, he would also achieve a pole, but without victory.
1996: Olivier Panis triumphs in chaos
In 1996, the unexpected hero was Olivier Panis, who was one of only three drivers to finish the race. The Frenchman had started from 14th place, but in one of the craziest races in Formula 1 history, with numerous retirements, he finished almost five seconds ahead of David Coulthard.
Panis was considered a great talent even before his victory and had already achieved two second places with the Ligier team. However, not even in his wildest dreams had he imagined what would happen in Monaco on that rainy Sunday.
Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen, Jean Alesi. ..almost all the top drivers at the time ended up in the barriers in the course of the race. And when World Championship leader Damon Hill ‘s Williams also succumbed, it was clear there would be a surprise winner.
Of course, that was the highlight of Panis’ Formula 1 career. In 1997, he and Prost achieved two more podium finishes before breaking his leg in Canada and seeing his season cut short. The Frenchman returned at the end of the year, but never got back on the podium for the next six years with Prost, BAR and Toyota.
1972: Jean-Pierre Beltoise shone in the lluvia
You have to go back to the ’70s for the next member on this list. In 1972, Jean-Pierre Beltoise achieved his only victory in 86 F1 races.
Starting fourth in his BRM, he took the lead with a great start and got rid of the spray that other drivers suffered from chasing cars. From behind, Clay Regazzoni, Emerson Fittipaldi and Jacky Ickx battled each other, allowing Beltoise to close in on glory.
Although the race did not see many retirements (17 drivers finished), the Frenchman led his worst pursuer Ickx by 38 seconds. It was the last win for the BRM team in Formula 1, and thus also for Beltoise, who retired with them in 1974.
Before his victory in Monaco, he had already achieved six podium finishes with the Matra team, and in the three years with BRM he only managed one more podium finish apart from Monaco: at Kyalami 1974.
1955/1958: Maurice Trintignant achieves it twice
A very special case is that of Maurice Trintignant , also French. Another one who only won in Monaco, but twice! In 1955 and 1958, he did not return to the top of the podium in any of the 81 F1 races.
In his first victory he was already 37 years old. Trintignant participated in the world championship in the early years, but did not have a competitive car in Gordini. Only when he switched to Ferrari did he achieve the desired success.
In the first race of 1955, in Argentina, he managed to be second and third at the same time because he had shared both cars with two other drivers. However, he did not have to share his victory in the following race, in Monaco.
Trintignant was able to win because the dominant Mercedes of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss retired with technical problems and Alberto Ascari crashed in his Lancia. For the rest of the season and the following year, the Frenchman did not add a single point.
He moved to the privateer Walker team in 1958, and on his debut with them he won, in Monaco. In the absence of champion Fangio, he won in his Cooper after breakdowns suffered by Jean Behra, Tony Brooks, Mike Hawthorn, Stirling Moss and Graham Hill (who was making his debut that day).
Trintignant spent a total of 15 years in Formula 1, until 1964, but in the 1960s he only scored points in one race.
1952: Not in Formula 1, but as the only victory
The last two references on our list we have to explain a little more. Technically speaking, both races were not part of the Formula 1 world championship. After the eventful 1950 edition, it was removed from the calendar for 1951. In 1952, however, it reappeared, but only as a non-championship sports car race. .
On the one hand, it was cost reasons, and on the other, there was a fear of not being able to put together a competitive grid because the decision to contest the 1952 championship under Formula 2 rules was taken relatively late. Two races were held in Monaco at that time: the Grand Prix for cars over two liters and the ‘Prix’ for smaller engines.
The event is remembered for the death of Luigi Fagioli in practice. In the end, Italian Vittorio Marzotto won in a private Ferrari. It was the only major victory for Marzotto, who wanted to compete in the 1952 French Grand Prix as a Ferrari reserve driver but failed. In fact, he never contested a real Formula 1 Grand Prix.
1934: Guy Moll’s record
Guy Moll won the Monaco Grand Prix long before the Formula 1 World Championship was born, in 1934, after 100 laps with his Alfa Romeo.
At that time, the most important races on the calendar were still known as “Grandes Epreuves”. Moll attracted attention in the early 1930s and his strong performance in the 1933 24 Hours of Le Mans saw Enzo Ferrari take him to Alfa Romeo in 1934.
Moll won by surprise in his first major single-seater race against brand-mate Louis Chiron . At just 23 years and ten months old, he was the youngest driver to win at Monaco for decades until Lewis Hamilton broke his mark in 2008.
It seemed that a new star was appearing in motorsport paradise, but Guy Moll’s career ended tragically a little later. On the wet and windy Pescara track, he suffered a terrible accident and died on the spot.
The subsequent Ferrari president, Enzo Ferrari , is reported to have said decades later, “He could have been one of the greatest drivers in history.” But his triumph in Monaco was the only victory of his short career.
