Formula 1 arrives in Monte Carlo for Round 6 of the 2026 season, the Monaco Grand Prix, from 5–7 June. The most glamorous race on the calendar also marks the start of the European leg of the season — a run of four races in five weeks that will go a long way to defining the 2026 championship.
Kimi Antonelli arrives in the Principality on the back of four consecutive victories, leading team-mate George Russell by 43 points after Russell’s retirement from the lead in Montreal. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton took second in Canada for his best result of the season, while Max Verstappen claimed his first podium of the year for Red Bull. With the title fight developing into a battle primarily inside the Mercedes garage, Monaco’s unforgiving barriers and near-impossible overtaking add a unique layer of pressure to an already intense rivalry.
What time is the Monaco Grand Prix? Race and Session Times (BST)
Monaco follows the traditional three-day format, with two practice sessions on Friday, practice and qualifying on Saturday, and Sunday’s 78-lap race through the streets of Monte Carlo.
Friday, 5 June:
First Practice: 12:30–13:30
Second Practice: 16:00–17:00
Saturday, 6 June:
Third Practice: 11:30–12:30
Qualifying: 15:00–16:00
Sunday, 7 June:
Race: 14:00
Weather Forecast
Monte Carlo is set for a largely dry and pleasant weekend. Friday’s practice sessions and Saturday’s qualifying should bring sunny intervals with a gentle breeze and temperatures between 25°C and 26°C — good conditions for teams to extract meaningful data from the notoriously difficult street circuit. Sunday’s grand prix, starting at 15:00 local time, looks similarly benign with light winds and a high of 27°C. There is only a 16% chance of rain on race day, but at Monaco even a brief shower can transform a processional race into something entirely unpredictable.
The European Season Begins
Monaco kicks off an intense stretch of European racing that runs all the way to the summer break. Four races in five weeks follow in quick succession — Barcelona on 12–14 June, Austria on 26–28 June and Silverstone on 3–5 July — before Belgium and Hungary close out the pre-summer calendar. When the season resumes in August, Zandvoort, Monza and the debut of Madrid all follow before the final flyaway rounds. For teams chasing development gains and championship points, the next two months are the heart of the season.
What to Expect
The 3.337km Circuit de Monaco is the slowest, most demanding and most unforgiving track on the Formula 1 calendar. Average lap speeds of around 160 km/h belie the intensity of driving a modern F1 car through streets lined with barriers and virtually devoid of run-off. Overtaking is rare to the point of being exceptional — which means Saturday’s qualifying session is, uniquely at Monaco, as important as the race itself. Grid position here is closer to destiny than at any other circuit.
For Antonelli, Monaco represents a different kind of test to the circuits where he has dominated so far this season. The teenager has never started from anything other than pole in 2026, but Monaco’s barriers punish perfectionists and opportunists alike. For Russell, desperate to stop the rot after Montreal, a strong qualifying lap could be the reset his championship challenge needs. And with the title gap now at 43 points and the most unpredictable circuit on the calendar up next, the Monaco Grand Prix could yet throw the 2026 season wide open.
