Need to know ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix

F1 Grand Prix, GP Monaco, Monte Carlo Circuit

Following a thrilling, see-sawing qualifying session, reigning world champion Max Verstappen pipped Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso to secure the pole position for tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix. F1Technical's Balázs Szabó picks out the vital facts ahead of the race on the tight and twisty streets of Monte Carlo.

Long history – Today’s race in the Principality will be the 69th Monaco Grand Prix. The first Monaco race was the second round of the Formula One World Championship in 1950. It fell off the calendar in the next three season, but it returned in 1955 and remained on the schedule.

The successful Brazilian – Ayrton Senna is the most successful driver in the history of the Monaco Grand Prix with six victories to his name. The Brazilian is followed by the duo of Michael Schumacher and Graham Hill, who both scored five triumphs apiece.

Alain Prost is the only four-time Monaco Grand Prix winner while Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton have all three wins in the Principality. Of the current field, only Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel are the only other repeat winners in the Principality with both of them having won two times.

Clear leader – McLaren is the most successful constructor in Monaco with 15 triumphs, followed by Ferrari with the Italians having won 9 races in the Principality so far.

Five configurations – The Monaco Grands Prix took place on five different layouts. The first one was used between 1929 and 1972, the second one was in use for the following three season, the third one hosted the race between 1976 and 1985 while the fourth one was used until 1996.

1:12.909 – That is the actual lap record around the twisty Monaco race track. Lewis Hamilton recorded the fastest lap during the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, lowering the previous record.

Home heros - Louis Chiron was the last driver from Monaco who won on home turf. The racing driver who competed in rallies, sports car races, and Grands Prix triumphed at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1931.

Race distance – As the average speed is the lowest of the year at around 160 km/h, drivers are unable to cover the usual minimum of 305km during the race. Completing a total of 78 laps around the 3.337km-long circuit, drivers cover a race distance of 260.286km.

60km/h – Due to the tight pit lane, drivers have to adhere to the speed limit of 60km/h in the pit lane during the entire race weekend.

Modifications – New asphalt has been laid in a number of areas around the track, including the section between the entry of Turn 19 and the exit of Turn 1, the segment between the exit of Turn 8 and the exit from the tunnel, at the entry of Turn 10, and the section between the entry of Turn 15 and the exit of Turn 17.

DRS – There is only a single DRS in Monaco, with the detection point located 80m after Turn 16 and the activation point located 18m after Turn 19.

19 - The layout features 19 turns of which eight are left-handed ones while eleven right-handed corners.

No start-finish offset – Monaco is one of the few tracks at which there is no offset between the start and finish line.

Three softest compounds - To cope with the slow corners where traction is vital, Pirelli brought the softest end of its five-compound range with the C3 nominated as the Hard, the C4 as the Medium and the C5 as the Soft compound.

Four stewards – The group of stewards for the Monaco Grand Prix will be formed by five members with Tim Mayer, Felix Holter, Danny Sullivan, and Jean Francois Calme taking on this vital role at this weekend.

Landmarks - Two teams will reach important landmarks this weekend with Haas set to complete their 150th start and Alpine set to start their 50th race in Formula One.