The 1975 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held in Monaco on 11 May 1975. It was race 5 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 33rd Monaco Grand Prix since the race was first held in 1929. It was held over 75 of the scheduled 78 laps of the three kilometre street circuit, for a race distance of 245 kilometres.
The race was won by Austrian driver Niki Lauda giving the new Ferrari 312T its first win. The win broke a 20-year drought at Monaco for Ferrari. Lauda dominated the race, only losing the lead during a pitstop. He won by two seconds over the McLaren M23 of Emerson Fittipaldi. Carlos Pace finished third in his Brabham BT44B. This was also the 179th and final Grand Prix for and World Champion Graham Hill, although he failed to qualify after 176 race starts.
Circuit changes and qualifying summary
The future of Grand Prix racing was under scrutiny following the disastrous Spanish Grand Prix held two weeks prior. Actions had to be taken quickly: extra guard rails and catch fences were erected, kerbing resited and the chicane was modified. New measures were introduced: the grid was staggered and in addition would be restricted to just 18 cars. This last change affected Graham Hill's chance to qualify: the five-time Monaco winner had all sorts of practice problems and failed to qualify by 0.377 seconds. John Watson and Clay Regazzoni collided in practice, whilst the Surtees team was ordered to remove pro-Europe political stickers from its cars.
After failing his qualifying attempt for the start, Hill announced his retirement as a driver after 17 seasons and 176 races to concentrate on his Embassy Hill team.
Niki Lauda, in a Ferrari, claimed pole position, but sensationally sharing the front row was Tom Pryce, driving a Shadow, who just 12 months earlier had been deemed 'too inexperienced' to compete. Jean-Pierre Jarier and Ronnie Peterson filled the second row.
Race summary
The race began under rain conditions, so everyone went for wet tyres. Lauda was fastest at the start, while Pryce had a slow start and was passed by Jarier and Peterson; the Frenchman soon attempted to pass Lauda in an ill-advised overtaking manoeuvre, and hit the barriers at the Mirabeau; his car was damaged in the collision and handled badly, which caused him to hit the wall again at the Tabac corner
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Notes
- This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Swedish driver Torsten Palm.
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
!
! Pos
! Driver
! Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 1
| Emerson Fittipaldi
| 21
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 2
| Carlos Pace
| 16
|-
|align="left"| 10px 6
|align="center"| 3
| Niki Lauda
| 14
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 4
| Carlos Reutemann
| 12
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 5
| Jochen Mass
| 10.5
|-
!colspan=4|Source:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
!
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 1
| McLaren-Ford
| 26.5
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 2
| Brabham-Ford
| 25
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 3
| Ferrari
| 17
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 4
| Tyrrell-Ford
| 13
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 5
| Hesketh-Ford
| 7
|-
!colspan=4|Source: