Six Senna cars took to the Monaco street circuit thirty years after his death, while the heritage races ran through red flags, late passes and a Lotus win.
The 2024 Historic Grand Prix of Monaco was the fourteenth running of the heritage event, held on the Monaco street circuit with qualifying on Saturday. Six Ayrton Senna cars were shown in tribute, and the race series ran from pre-war cars to 1980s Formula One machinery.
The 2024 Historic Grand Prix of Monaco opened with a tribute. Six of Ayrton Senna's most significant cars ran around the street circuit between Saturday's qualifying sessions, three decades after his death. The racing that followed ran through several heritage categories, and more than one of them was stopped by red flags.
What was the 2024 Historic Grand Prix of Monaco?
The Historic Grand Prix is a motor racing meeting for heritage machinery, with voiturettes, Formula One, Formula Two and sports cars all taking part. The 2024 edition was its fourteenth running, and it was split into separate races labelled A1 through G, each with its own cars and rules.
The series followed the cars' eras. Series A1 took pre-war Grand Prix cars and voiturettes, Series A2 front-engined Grand Prix cars built before 1961, and Series C front-engined sports racers from 1952 to 1957. Series D to G covered Formula One cars with 3-litre engines from 1966 to 1985.
Six of Ayrton Senna's cars ran again at Monaco, thirty years after the accident that ended his life.
Senna's six cars and the drivers who ran them
| Car | Year | Driver | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kart | 1977 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Won the South American Championship |
| Van Diemen | 1982 | Cristina Gutierrez | British and European Formula Ford 2000 title |
| Ralt | 1983 | Eddie Irvine | Winner of the Macau Grand Prix |
| Toleman TG184 | 1984 | Stefan Johansson | Senna's first Formula One podium, at Monaco |
| Lotus 97T | 1985 | Thierry Boutsen | Senna's first Grand Prix win, in Portugal |
| McLaren MP4/5B | 1990 | Bruno Senna | Senna's championship-winning car |
Prince Albert II also joined the drivers at the demonstration. He had been among the dignitaries present at Monaco during Senna's victories there.
How did the Series A1 and A2 races go?
Paddins Dowling took his second victory in Series A1, leading from pole in his ERA R5B. Brad Baker finished second in an ERA R10B and set the fastest lap of the race. Michael Birch had recovered from third on the grid and challenged Baker before the latter reclaimed second on lap 4.
A chaotic moment came on lap 8, when Thierry Stapts lost drive in his Bugatti 35 at the exit of Sainte Devote and was hit by Ralf Emmerling's Riley Brooklands. Emmerling carried on to the flag. Patrick Blakeney-Edwards, the 2021 winner, failed to qualify after losing a valve in practice, and Fritz Burkard qualified seventh but did not start.
Claudia Hurtgen dominated Series A2 in a historic sports car. Ewen Sergison retired before the start. It was her third win in the race and her second in a row in that category, and she led every lap ahead of Marino Franchitti. Mark Shaw broke down on the formation lap, and Max Smith-Hilliard stalled on the grid when his Lotus 16 gearbox failed.
Further back, Guillermo Fierro-Eleta passed Tony Wood and Joaquin Folch-Rusinol for third in traffic at Mirabeau. Folch-Rusinol later spun from fourth after the Piscine, and Wood took third.
How did Series B and C end?
Series B became a duel between Andy Middlehurst's Lotus 25 and Joe Colasacco's Ferrari 1512. Middlehurst pulled clear on lap 6 when he lapped Sidney Hoole's Brabham at Portier, and Colasacco could not close the gap. Colasacco set the race's fastest lap but never led.
Mister John of B, in a Lola Mk4, retired on the first lap after a collision with Dan Collins on the rise to Beau Rivage. Philipp Buhofer, who had climbed to third in a BRM P261, spun on the exit of the Piscine later on the same lap.
Series C began with Frederic Wakeman on pole, but Richard Wilson's Maserati 250S made a strong launch to lead. Wakeman regained the lead on lap 2 around the outside at Massenet. Tony Wood stormed from fifth to third, and by the end of the opening lap Martin Halusa had climbed from 22nd to ninth.
Series C ended with a late move. Max Smith-Hilliard, who had started third, closed on Wakeman and made his pass at Portier on the final lap. Wakeman spun and finished seventh. Richard Wilson, who lunged at Sainte Devote on lap 7, later spun out of Casino Square on lap 8.
Who won Series D, and how did Adrian Newey get on?
Katsuaki Kubota won Series D in a Lotus 72, his second Monaco victory after winning the 2014 event. Michael Lyons, from pole in a Surtees TS9, had been leading until his steering seized at the Piscine on lap 9. The engineer Adrian Newey was back in a Lotus 49B for the first time since 2018, and he ended up fourth.
The start was messy. Katsuaki Kubota dropped to third at the start, and Matthew Wrigley's March moved up to chase Lyons, with the leading trio pulling clear of the field. Roald Goethe stalled before the formation lap and began from the pit lane after a push start, Ewen Sergison retired on the spot, and Tom Hartley Jr. and Newey both stalled on the grid before continuing. Newey overtook Nicolas Matile for seventh on lap 2, and David Shaw retired into the pits after four laps.
Adrian Fernandez, a multiple CART and IndyCar winner, had acquired the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix BRM P153 that Pedro Rodriguez drove. He qualified sixth before a broken differential shaft kept him out of the start. On lap 8 Matthew Wrigley misjudged his braking into Saint Devote, which let Kubota up to second.
Mister John of B took third in a Matra MS120C at the Nouvelle Chicane on the final lap, passing Franco Meiners in the experimental Ferrari 312B3. Meiners then spun at La Rascasse, which let Newey through to fourth.
Series E to G: retirements and red flags
Toni Seiler stalled on the grid in Series E, and Stuart Hall's McLaren M23 took the lead from pole and never gave it up. Marco Werner passed Nick Padmore for second into Sainte Devote, and Douglas Mockett went off at La Rascasse on lap 5, and James Davison's Hill halted at Le Tunnel's entrance on lap 3. Steve Brooks's Embassy Hill ran into James Hagan's Hesketh at Sainte Devote, and Guillaume Roman parked before Le Tunnel on lap 10. Werner's race ended on lap 6 when a second-gear dog ring gave way.
Series F was the most stop-start race of the weekend. Harald Becker and Wayne Taylor collided at the start and both retired on the spot. Wayne Taylor, a two-time Daytona winner, drove a Wolf WR4 once raced by Jody Scheckter. Zak Brown, Frits van Eerd and Lee Mowle were among the notable entrants, and Stephen Shanly qualified third on debut before spinning at the Piscine.
Lyons and Griffiths quickly led the field in first and second, and Jamie Constable and Mark Hazell tangled at Mirabeau Haute on lap 4. The race was stopped three times and restarted twice, with the final restart a safety-car start over 10 laps. Michael Cantillon's attempt to pass Martin Overington forced the latter into the wall and brought out a second red flag. Nicolas Matile then hit the barrier at Tabac, which brought out the third.
Series G opened with Nicholas Pink stalling on the formation lap and Richard Hope stalling on the grid. Niklas Halusa spun at the Nouvelle Chicane on lap 2, and Steve Hartley crashed on lap 6 when he was baulked, which brought out the safety car. Mark Higson and Piero Lottini made contact at Sainte Devote on lap 11, and Higson lost a front wheel. Michael Cantillon then damaged a steering arm while trying to pass Ken Tyrrell, and Laurent Fort was briefly promoted to tenth before he spun at the Virage Antony Noghes. He still finished twelfth.
Series G ended with Michael Lyons on the final podium place and Marino Franchitti right behind him. Franchitti caught Lyons near the end but could not find a way past, and the pair crossed the line only a few car lengths apart.
