11 viral moments from past Monaco Grands Prix

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Few races on the calendar carry the prestige and the romance of the Monaco Grand Prix. Held on the narrow streets of the Principality since 1929, the Circuit de Monaco winds through tunnels, past harbours, and along cliffsides in a way that no other circuit on the calendar can match. The racing alone has given fans memories to last a lifetime, from legendary wet-weather drives to dramatic final laps with multiple lead changes. But Monaco also has something of a habit for producing moments away from the racing that stay with us for just as long. Here are 11 viral off-track moments from Monaco that we won’t be forgetting any time soon... When Kimi Raikkonen retired from the Monaco Grand Prix in 2006 with an exhaust issue during the opening laps, it was a bitter blow – especially considering his epic pole-to-flag win the year before. But if he was disappointed, he certainly didn’t show it. Whilst most drivers in his position trudge back to the paddock, ruminating on what went wrong, Raikkonen had a better plan – within 15 minutes of retiring, he was spotted watching the remainder of the race from his yacht in the harbour. The Iceman was utterly unbothered as ever – it’s Monaco, after all! Two years after a botched pit stop cruelly robbed him of a Monaco victory, Daniel Ricciardo qualified on pole yet again – but history threatened to repeat itself when, just 28 laps, an MGU-K failure left him with a loss of power. The Australian had no other choice but to keep driving the wheels off the car and hope for the best. Against all odds, he held on to win by a remarkable seven seconds, producing an unforgettable redemption story. But Ricciardo's celebration itself become one of the most famous. Surrounded by his team and a swarm of media, Ricciardo stepped to the edge of the pool and executed the most elegant swallow dive we’ve ever seen – an image forever etched into our memories. Light as a feather as his demons of 2016 were finally put to rest, we give that dive a 10 out of 10 every time. When Fernando Alonso chose to race at the 2017 Indianapolis 500 rather than Monaco, McLaren called on previous Principality-winner Jenson Button to step in – coaxing him out of retirement for one final appearance around the iconic track. Ahead of the race, Alonso made a surprise radio in from across the Atlantic to wish his substitute well. He also had a simple request: “Take care of my car”. A simple enough ask, but Button’s response was entirely unhinged. “I'm going to pee in your seat," he replied – which quickly became a fan favourite moment of the whole race weekend. Whether or not he followed through on the threat, we may never know, as Button retired after a collision with Pascal Wehrlein. Not quite the send-off the 2009 World Champion deserved, but we reckon the radio exchange alone was worth the trip! After years of heartache, near misses and agonising retirements, Charles Leclerc finally won his home Grand Prix in 2024 – and the release of emotion was decades in the making. The final lap commentary raised goosebumps, the team radio as he crossed the line was tear-jerking, and the celebrations that followed were entirely worthy of the wait. After the podium, Leclerc made his way to the harbour – where he wasted little time in pushing team boss Fred Vasseur into the water before diving after him. Vasseur, to his credit, didn't look too unhappy about it. As for Leclerc, he hit the water with all the grace you'd expect from someone who had just completed 78 laps of one of the world’s toughest circuits and the weight of a lifetime's ambition finally off his shoulders. It is an image that will stay with F1 fans for a very long time. To promote the release of Ocean's Twelve at the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix, Jaguar fitted a $250,000 diamond to the nose cone of each of their cars. It was a pretty neat piece of Hollywood cross-promotion... until Christian Klien's Jaguar hit the wall barely a lap into the Grand Prix, and the diamond vanished. Despite extensive searching, it was never recovered – and to this day, nobody knows quite what happened to it. Ocean's Twelve could not have written it better! When Lewis Hamilton won the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix – his third victory in the Principality – the celebrations didn’t quite stop at the podium. With his champagne bottle still in hand, Hamilton made a beeline for the grid where the VIP guests and media were gathered, and spotted his former team mate and rival Nico Rosberg in the crowd... What followed seemed pretty inevitable given their relationship – a chase around the grid and a thorough champagne soaking, delivered with great enthusiasm on Hamilton’s part. It left Rosberg’s elegant cream suit considerably less pristine than perhaps he would have liked, but it was a fitting way for Hamilton to celebrate equalling Rosberg’s win total at Monaco! After taking victory at the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Button clearly still had some adrenaline to burn. A talented triathlete and runner, Button set off on foot along the circuit in what became a lap of honour after parking his Brawn in the wrong place. He high-fived marshals as he went while soaking in every moment of winning one of the most prestigious races in the world. Button was never one to turn down an opportunity to get moving, and even the gruelling Grand Prix wasn’t an excuse to not get the training in. But above all, it was pure, unbridled joy from a driver who was – at that point anyway – firmly on course for the World Championship, and he looked on top of the world here! George Russell had plenty to ruminate over after a frustrating 2025 Monaco Grand Prix, having spent much of the race stuck behind the Williams duo of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon. So stuck, in fact, that his patience eventually ran out – skipping the Nouvelle Chicane to pass Albon and refusing to hand the position back despite knowing he’d receive a penalty. When asked about it afterwards, Russell eventually had a smile on his face: "I'm having dinner with Alex tonight, so he's going to get the bill." True to his word, the pair were spotted out later that evening – and Albon did indeed pick up the tab. The 2000 Monaco Grand Prix produced a gloriously chaotic moment barely one lap into the race. A collision between Pedro de la Rosa and Button at the Loews hairpin on the opening lap sent the Spaniard into a spin, triggering a six-vehicle car park behind them. Luckily for the drivers, this was an era when teams kept spare cars in the garage, and the regulations allowed the stranded drivers to restart in them on the grid – but only if they made it back to the pits within ten minutes of the red flag being waved... Cue one of the most peculiar spectacles in Monaco history – the drivers all sprinting back through the streets of the Principality – helmets and all – with the commentators providing an enthusiastic running commentary on overtakes and road crossings. Diniz won the footrace and made it back in time to start from the grid rather than the pit lane – although that didn’t seem to be a good omen for the Brazilian as he crashed at Sainte Devote on Lap 31. It was a chaotic start to his race and an equally chaotic end – Monaco at its wildest. Over the 2018 race weekend, the fans in Monaco were treated to a rather special demonstration – Keke and Nico Rosberg took to the circuit together in their respective championship-winning cars – the Williams FW08 and the Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid. One of only two World Championship-winning father-and-son pairings, the duo shared the streets around a track that has seen victories for both of them. It seems their competitive instincts were kept firmly in check, but the sight of the pair out on track together made for one of the most wholesome moments of the season – and one we’ll certainly never forget. When Hamilton hit the wall at Mirabeau during FP3 in 2023, the resulting red flag brought out the crane to collect his Mercedes. But with that came one of the most talked-about moments of the entire weekend. As his vehicle was lifted high above the circuit, it gave every team in the paddock an unexpected – and rather generous – view of the floor of his car. Safe to say the footage was being studied very closely in most of the garages that weekend. Betting5 Monaco facts every bettor needs to knowRacing Bulls drivers give Canada verdicts after mixed fortunesWhat time is the 2026 Monaco GP and how can I watch it?OUR PARTNERSView allDownload the Official F1 AppScheduleDriversNewsTeamsFantasy & GamingCookie PreferencesMoreF1FacebookXInstagramYouTube© 2003-2026 Formula One World Championship Limited