It’s the most prestigious race on the F1 calendar as we get set for the 2025 Monaco Granx Prix. Sunday’s race will air on TV via ABC. Fans can watch Formula 1 races for free by signing up for a free trial of fuboTV.
The best drivers in the world will speed through the streets of Monaco Sunday as glamorous crowds watch from buildings and yachts. But will there be exciting racing action?
Formula 1 has put new rules in place to try and spice up the race, which has typically featured little passing. This year, drivers will be forced to put twice during the race. Will that change anything in regards to how the race plays out? We’ll find out Sunday.
How to watch the Monaco Grand Prix
What time does qualifying start? What TV channel will it air on? – Coverage for the race will start at 9 a.m. EDT. Coverage will air on TV via ABC.
Stream Info: FuboTV (free trial); Sling; DirecTV Stream (free trial)
Fans can watch Saturday’s coverage for free by signing up for a trial of fuboTV or DirecTV Stream. Meanwhile, Sling provides one of the cheapest streaming options on the market.
Viewers who have a cable subscription can use login credentials from their TV provider to watch via WatchESPN or the ESPN app.
What is FuboTV?
FuboTV is an internet television service that offers more than 200 channels across sports and entertainment including Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. From the UEFA Champions League to the WNBA to international tournaments ranging across sports, there’s plenty of options available on FuboTV, which offers a free trial and up to $25 off the first month for new customers.
What is DirecTV Stream?
DirecTV Stream offers practically everything DirecTV provides, except for a remote and a streaming device to connect to your television. Sign up now and get three free months of premium channels including MAX, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME and Starz.
What is SlingTV?
SlingTV offers a variety of live programing ranging from news and sports and starting as low as $20 a month for your first month. Subscribers also get a month of DVR Plus free if they sign up now. Choose from a variety of sports packages without long-term contracts and with easy cancelation.
More coverage via the Associated Press
The Monaco Grand Prix may be “the jewel in Formula 1’s crown” but the race itself is rarely must-see TV. Sometimes, it’s downright dull.
F1 and its governing body, the FIA, hope a rule change for Sunday’s race will change that. Drivers will be forced to change tires at least twice in the hope that more pit stop strategy could shake up an event where Saturday qualifying — and the resulting grid position — is often more important than race day.
“I guess it can go both ways,” champion Max Verstappen said Thursday. ”It can be quite straightforward, or it can go completely crazy because of safety cars coming into play or not making the right calls. I think it will spice it up probably a bit more.”
The change is designed to stop a repeat of last year, when a first-lap crash brought out the red flag, allowing everyone to make their one mandatory tire change.
With overtaking all but impossible on the twisty Monaco streets, the rest of the race was a procession. Home driver Charles Leclerc took the win for Ferrari and all of the top 10 finished in grid order.
How Sunday’s race shakes out could depend on whether teams get creative with their strategies.
“Normally, with one stop, once you have a good pit stop and everything is fine, then you drive to the end and just stay focused and not hit the barrier,” Verstappen said. ”But maybe with a two-stop it can create something different, people gambling, guessing when the right time is to box.”
Leclerc leads the way
Leclerc’s win last year in Monaco followed years of frustration at his home race. Friday’s first practice session had a similar pattern in miniature as Leclerc recovered from an early crash to set the fastest time.
Leclerc clipped the back of Lance Stroll’s slow-moving Aston Martin, smashing the Ferrari’s front wing and causing a brief stoppage so the debris could be cleared. Stroll said he hadn’t heard a warning from the team over the radio that Leclerc was approaching before he moved across the track into the Ferrari’s path.
In the end, though, Leclerc was fastest by .163 of a second from Verstappen, with Norris third-fastest, .326 off the pace. Alex Albon of Williams was fourth, with Piastri fifth. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton placed ninth after briefly going airborne when his Ferrari went over a curb.
Leclerc went fastest again in an eventful second session which saw Piastri cause a red flag when he hit a barrier, though he recovered and was second-fastest, .036 off Leclerc and ahead of Hamilton and Norris. Verstappen could only manage the 10th-fastest time.
French rookie Isack Hadjar called himself “so stupid” over the radio after twice clipping the wall with the rear-left wheel in separate incidents, damaging his Racing Bulls car both times.
McLaren’s Monaco pedigree
Monaco was once McLaren territory. It could be again.
It’s the most successful team with 15 wins in Monaco, but none since Lewis Hamilton took the victory in 2008 on his way to his first championship.
Verstappen’s win at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix last week tightened up a title race which was increasingly dominated by McLaren.
Oscar Piastri leads the standings, but now only by 13 points ahead of his teammate Lando Norris and 22 from Verstappen.
Monaco could favor McLaren because its car tends to be easier on its tires and, as Verstappen said last week, because his Red Bull dislikes low-speed corners.
Verstappen skips movie night
Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, all but two of the 20 F1 drivers were pictured at a private screening Wednesday of the upcoming movie “F1,” starring Brad Pitt and produced by Lewis Hamilton.
Not Verstappen, though, who became a father for the first time a few weeks ago.
“I wanted to spend more private time,” said Verstappen. “There was the opportunity to watch it, but if I watch it now or in three or four weeks, that’s fine as well.”
