No other Formula One race offers quite the same blend of sport and spectacle as the Monaco Grand Prix.

To the outside world, this 78-lap race through the streets of Monaco is the highlight of the Formula One calendar, and it commands a huge worldwide audience.

Spectators thrill to the sight of drivers rocketing through the city streets and past the harbour at speeds of over 280 km/h.

The more well-heeled onlookers even bring their own floating ringside seats, while others pack the trackside apartments that have been specially vacated and sublet for the occasion.

The Monaco circuit is the shortest GP course in the calendar at 3.340 kilometres. Nowhere else does a race cover more laps (78).

The race distance of 260.520 kilometres is the shortest of the season.  

Monaco has hosted 54 Grands Prix since 1950. The length of the course has fluctuated between 3.145 km and 3.370 kilometres.

For the first 14 GPs the race distance covered 100 laps. The most successful driver in Monaco to date remains Ayrton Senna with six wins.  

Only since 2004 have there been garages for the cars along the pit lane in Monaco.

Prior to that, teams had to push the cars back and forth between makeshift garages in the paddock or an underground garage for each practice and qualifying session and the race.

On Fridays, the Formula One engines traditionally remain switched off in Monaco. That is why the first two free practice sessions are held on Thursday.  

Covering an area of 1.97 square kilometres, Monaco is the world’s second smallest independent state after the Vatican. It comprises the districts of Monte Carlo, La Condamine, Fontvieille, Le Larvotto, Les Moneghetti and Monaco Ville.

The total population of this state, which imposes neither income tax nor inheritance tax, is 33,300. Of these, 5,070 are true Monegasques.

Monaco has the highest population density of any state in the world.

The head of this constitutional hereditary monarchy is Prince Albert II.