The Monaco circuit: anachronistic for F1, perfect for Formula E?

There are signs that don't lie. For Season 11 of the Formula E, at the heart of a stable calendar without any real novelty (except for the returns of Miami and Jakarta), the organizers have decided to place not one, but two Monaco E-Prix. For the first time, the Principality is hosting a double round in the 100% electric championship. And this is not due to chance: present on the Formula E calendar since the first season, the city-state has become one of the unmissable events of the discipline, and not only for its bling-bling side or for the prestige, but especially for the sporting aspect.

Indeed, since 2021, the Monaco E-Prix has been one of the most competitive events in the championship, but also one of the most uncertain. In the last four races (including the first round of 2025), the poleman has never won on the streets of the Principality. This unpredictability coincides with the use of the Monaco circuit in its entirety. Between 2015 and 2019, the Monaco E-Prix was contested on half of the Monegasque layout, with a half-turn between Beau Rivage and the Nouvelle Chicane. Since then, it has been the full circuit, used for decades in Formula 1, which Formula E is using. Ironically, at 3,3 kilometers long, the Monaco circuit is the second longest on the FE calendar in 2 (after Miami), while it is (by far) the shortest on the F2025 calendar.

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— Automobile Club de Monaco (@ACM_Media) May 4, 2025

The decision to use the full circuit proves to have been an excellent choice for the spectacle. Since the introduction of Gen3 in 2023, the Monaco E-Prix has been one of the events with the most overtaking attempts on track: 116 overtakes in 2023, 197 overtakes in 2024! Figures that would make Formula 1 pale in comparison? Yes… and no. Of these hundreds of overtakes, most are “forced”: no one wants to lead the race, everyone wants to stay tucked into the slipstream of others. Still, with so much uncertainty, it opens up unique strategic opportunities, and the Monaco layout is well suited to this style of racing.

Formula E, better than F1 in Monaco?

Where it was considered anachronistic for Formula 1, where single-seaters that were too heavy and too wide could no longer overtake, the Monaco circuit seems perfectly suited to Formula E. The Gen3s are ideally proportioned (30 cm less in width than an F1) to wind between the rails of the Principality, and even if the pace over a lap is much less impressive than in Formula 1 (1'26 for pole in Formula E in 2025, 1'10 for pole in Formula 1 in 2024), the competitiveness of the electric discipline is much higher. As they say, the best is the enemy of the good!

In 2025, for the first double headers held in Monaco, Formula E decided to implement Pit Boost – a mandatory 30-second pit stop to recharge 10% of the battery – during the first round of the weekend to spice up the show even more. A success: with this new strategic aspect, the race remained undecided until the final laps, with victory snatched by Oliver Rowland who had to fight hard by overtaking four cars at the end of the race. Nico Müller almost pulled off a masterstroke by stopping during a Full Course Yellow while he was last on the first lap.

If the show was there, the public was too, with well-filled stands throughout the day on Saturday. It must be said that with such competitive races and tickets around 20 times cheaper (€30 per day in FE, between €550 and €1100 for the Monaco GP in F1), there is reason to be convinced to go see – out of passion or curiosity – Formula E in the Principality.

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