Monaco Grand Prix track given major change as 1960s look restored

Antonelli's W17 on track at Monaco GP — Photo: © IMAGO

Monaco Grand Prix

Monaco Grand Prix track given major change as 1960s look restored

Retro Monaco is here!

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Sunday 30 August 2026 10:57 Updated: 13:09

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The Monaco Grand Prix may not be the most popular F1 race among fans but its glamour is unmatched, and a key reason it's been an almost constant staple on the F1 calendar.

The Monaco Grand Prix was first held in the championship's first year in 1950 and has since held 72 editions.

You would think that a circuit so dependent on street roads has little flexibility to change its layout, but there are quite a few differences between today's track and the one that first appeared in 1950.

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This includes the changing of the start-line, the Rascasse corner, the added swimming pool section, the chicane coming out of the tunnel, and even the tunnel itself.

Ocean's 11 sequel hits 1960s Monaco

But at the end of August, Monaco was taken back to the 1960s as part of filming for the Ocean's Eleven prequel, starring Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper and is set to be released next year.

The Warner Bros production, that has a working title of Sandcastles was in the Principality until Friday 28th August, filming at iconic F1 locations including the harbour at Port Hercule and Portier, the corner just before the drivers enter the tunnel on the race track.

This isn't just a tenuous link to F1 though, the major heist from the film takes place during the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix.

Released footage shows classic F1 cars going through bygone layouts of the track, complete with the outdated safety measures at the time including haybales for barriers.

Curiously one captured fan footage showed classic F1 cars racing around the Grand Hotel hairpin in the opposite direction to the real circuit, which seems a strange bit of detail to get wrong - but then that's Hollywood for you I guess.

Won won the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix?

Bruce McLaren won racing a Cooper Climax, having taken the lead late in the race from Graham Hill, whose BRM engine expired with just eight laps of the 100-lap race to go. Hill though would still be classified in sixth to gain a point.

Lotus's Jim Clark took his first ever pole position but he too retired 55 laps into the race with a clutch issue. Making up the podium behind McLaren were Ferrari duo Phil Hill, the defending world champion, and Lorenzo Bandini.

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Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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F1 Monaco Grand Prix