1971 Monaco Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jackie Stewart controlled the Monaco Grand Prix from pole, but Ronnie Peterson’s spectacular pursuit provided the afternoon’s great breakthrough story. Peterson took his first championship podium in second, with Jacky Ickx bringing Ferrari home third.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
Pole time	1:23.2
Fastest lap	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
Fastest-lap time	1:22.200 on lap 57
First	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
Second	Ronnie Peterson	March
Third	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
20 May 1971	Thursday timed practice	90 minutes; afternoon
21 May 1971	Friday timed practice	One hour; morning, delayed
22 May 1971	Saturday final qualifying	90 minutes; afternoon
23 May 1971	Race	15:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Jackie Stewart arrived at round 3 leading the 1971 F1 World Championship on 15 points, with Mario Andretti on 9. Ferrari headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 15 points.

Race entries

The organisers limited the start to the fastest 18 qualifiers, without guaranteed places for established names. Galli replaced de Adamich in the Alfa Romeo-powered March, and Skip Barber appeared in another March. Andretti’s first Monaco attempt ended in non-qualification after mechanical trouble during the only dry session.

Thursday timed practice

Heavy rain made learning the circuit difficult, especially for new cars and newcomers. Amon attacked impressively in the Matra and set the best time, while Stewart completed limited running. The weather was severe enough to cancel the supporting Formula Three practice, leaving little prospect of meaningful dry-weather preparation.

Friday timed practice

A dry track prompted an immediate rush of cars before traffic gradually eased. Stewart equalled the existing lap record after reverting to Tyrrell’s original nose arrangement. Andretti’s fuel-injection failure stranded him on the circuit before he could set a competitive time. Galli had fuel starvation, Soler-Roig lost a rear wheel and Barber’s gearbox prevented useful running.

Saturday final qualifying

Rain returned, locking in Friday’s grid. Siffert was quickest as conditions improved late on, but remained far outside the dry times. Cevert cracked a brake disc while bedding in a new arrangement, and Andretti tried both available Ferraris without a realistic chance of qualifying. Schenken secured the last place, with Ganley just outside the cut.

Qualifying Classification

Each driver’s best eligible practice lap determined the qualifying order.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	11	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	1:23.2
2	4	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:24.4
3	14	Jo Siffert	BRM	1:24.8
4	20	Chris Amon	Matra	1:24.8
5	15	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:25.1
6	9	Denny Hulme	McLaren	1:25.3
7	21	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	1:25.6
8	17	Ronnie Peterson	March	1:25.8
9	7	Graham Hill	Brabham	1:26.0
10	22	John Surtees	Surtees	1:26.0
11	5	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	1:26.1
12	2	Reine Wisell	Lotus	1:26.7
13	27	Henri Pescarolo	March	1:26.7
14	10	Peter Gethin	McLaren	1:26.9
15	12	François Cevert	Tyrrell	1:27.2
16	24	Rolf Stommelen	Surtees	1:27.2
17	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	1:27.7
18	8	Tim Schenken	Brabham	1:28.3
DNQ	16	Howden Ganley	BRM	1:28.8
DNQ	6	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	1:29.1
DNQ	19	Nanni Galli	March	1:34.6
DNQ	18	Alex Soler-Roig	March	1:44.4
DNQ	28	Skip Barber	March	2:48.6

What happened in the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix?

Stewart took command from the start. Amon was delayed by starting trouble, and Hill crashed early at Tabac. Peterson fought his way past Rodríguez, Ickx and Siffert to reach second, combining aggression with precision in the March. Stewart nevertheless retained enough pace to keep the gap under control despite feeling unwell from cockpit fumes.

The battle behind gradually thinned. Regazzoni damaged his Ferrari, both Matras retired with final-drive trouble and Siffert lost oil pressure while running third. Ickx continued despite an anti-roll-bar problem, while Hulme maintained a steady race in the McLaren.

Stewart completed another convincing win, with Peterson second and Ickx third. Hulme, Fittipaldi and Stommelen filled the remaining points positions. Rain held off until the slowing-down lap, sparing the survivors one final complication after a wet and demanding practice programme.

After the race, Jackie Stewart headed the drivers’ standings with 24 points, followed by Jacky Ickx on 10. Tyrrell – Ford led the constructors’ table on 24, with Ferrari on 19.

1971 Monaco Grand Prix race results

The 1971 Monaco Grand Prix was held on 23 May 1971, with a scheduled start of 15:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	11	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	80	1:52:21.3	9
2	17	Ronnie Peterson	March	80	+ 25.6	6
3	4	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	80	+ 53.3	4
4	9	Denny Hulme	McLaren	80	+ 1:06.7	3
5	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus	79	+ 1 Lap	2
6	24	Rolf Stommelen	Surtees	79	+ 1 Lap	1
7	22	John Surtees	Surtees	79	+ 1 Lap	0
8	27	Henri Pescarolo	March	77	+ 3 Laps	0
9	15	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	76	+ 4 Laps	0
10	8	Tim Schenken	Brabham	76	+ 4 Laps	0
Ret	14	Jo Siffert	BRM	58	Oil pipe	0
Ret	21	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	47	Differential	0
Ret	20	Chris Amon	Matra	45	Differential	0
Ret	5	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	24	Accident	0
Ret	10	Peter Gethin	McLaren	22	Accident	0
Ret	2	Reine Wisell	Lotus	21	Wheel bearing	0
Ret	12	François Cevert	Tyrrell	5	Accident	0
Ret	7	Graham Hill	Brabham	1	Accident	0
DNQ	16	Howden Ganley	BRM			0
DNQ	6	Mario Andretti	Ferrari			0
DNQ	19	Nanni Galli	March			0
DNQ	18	Alex Soler-Roig	March			0
DNQ	28	Skip Barber	March			0

1971 Monaco Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	11	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	57	1:22.200

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

1971 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix.

1971 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jackie Stewart	British	Tyrrell	24
2	Jacky Ickx	Belgian	Ferrari	10
3	Mario Andretti	American	Ferrari	9
4	Ronnie Peterson	Swedish	March	6
5	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Matra	6
6	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	McLaren	6
7	Clay Regazzoni	Swiss	Ferrari	4
8	Pedro Rodríguez	Mexican	BRM	3
9	Reine Wisell	Swedish	Lotus	3
10	Emerson Fittipaldi	Brazilian	Lotus	2
11	Rolf Stommelen	German	Surtees	1
12	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	French	Matra	1
–	John Surtees	British	Surtees	0
–	François Cevert	French	Tyrrell	0
–	Brian Redman	British	Surtees	0
–	Henri Pescarolo	French	March	0
–	Peter Gethin	British	McLaren	0
–	Tim Schenken	Australian	Brabham	0
–	Graham Hill	British	Brabham	0
–	Howden Ganley	New Zealander	BRM	0
–	Andrea de Adamich	Italian	March	0
–	Jo Siffert	Swiss	BRM	0
–	Alex Soler-Roig	Spanish	March	0
–	Dave Charlton	South African	Brabham	0
–	John Love	Rhodesian	March	0
–	Jackie Pretorius	South African	Brabham	0
–	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	McLaren	0

1971 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Tyrrell – Ford	24
2	Ferrari	19
3	March – Ford	6
4	Matra	6
5	McLaren – Ford	6
6	Lotus – Ford	5
7	BRM	3
8	Surtees – Ford	1
—	Brabham – Ford	0
—	March – Alfa Romeo	0

Drivers counted their best 5 results from rounds 1–6 and their best 4 from rounds 7–11. Only the highest-placed car for each constructor could score constructor points, with the same dropped-results limits applying.

1971 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1971 South African Grand Prix	Kyalami, Midrand	6 March
2	1971 Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuïc, Barcelona	18 April
3	1971 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	23 May
4	1971 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	20 June
5	1971 French Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	4 July
6	1971 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	17 July
7	1971 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	1 August
8	1971 Austrian Grand Prix	Österreichring, Spielberg	15 August
9	1971 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	5 September
10	1971 Canadian Grand Prix	Mosport Park, Bowmanville	19 September
11	1971 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	3 October