The 1966 Monaco Grand Prix opened Formula One's new 3.0-litre engine era and was won by Jackie Stewart, with only four drivers classified as finishers.
Key Facts
- Race winner
- Jackie Stewart (BRM P261)
- Victory margin
- 40 seconds over Lorenzo Bandini
- Championship round
- Race 1 of 9 in 1966 season
- New engine displacement limit
- 3.0 litres (up from 1.5 litres)
- Classified finishers
- 4 drivers
- Grand Prix edition
- 24th Monaco Grand Prix
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Formula One's governing body altered engine regulations ahead of the 1966 season, doubling the maximum engine displacement from 1.5 litres to 3.0 litres, ushering in a new technical era. The Monaco Grand Prix, round one of the 1966 World Championship of Drivers, became the first race held under these new rules.
On 22 May 1966, the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix was run at the Circuit de Monaco. British driver Jackie Stewart won in a BRM P261, finishing forty seconds ahead of Lorenzo Bandini's Ferrari 246. Only four drivers were officially classified as finishers, with Stewart's BRM team-mate Graham Hill completing the podium a lap down in third.
Stewart's victory was his second Formula One Grand Prix win, following his 1965 Italian Grand Prix triumph, and helped establish him as a leading driver of the era. The extremely low number of finishers highlighted the mechanical challenges teams faced adapting to the new, more powerful 3.0-litre engine regulations.