Which F1 Drivers Live in Monaco and Why?

How Many F1 Drivers Live in Monaco?

Old Town and Prince Palace in Monaco. Credit: Camping Les Pinèdes

Twelve of the 22 drivers on the 2026 Formula 1 grid are Monaco residents. That’s more than half the grid living in a country smaller than Central Park in New York City.

1. Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton has been a Monaco resident since 2010, moving there from Switzerland while still driving for McLaren.

His connection to the principality goes back much further. As a 13-year-old, he’d just been signed by McLaren and was racing in Europe when Keke Rosberg’s son Nico invited him onto the family’s private jet to visit their Monaco flat. Hamilton later recalled, “Whenever I’m here, I always just think, reminisce a lot about when I was younger.”

He reportedly lives in the Fontvieille district in a four-bedroom duplex penthouse with Mediterranean views, purchased for around $40m. He once posted a photo of the view with the caption, “A place I call home, Monte Carlo. I am so blessed to live in such an incredible place.”

2. Max Verstappen

Verstappen moved to Monaco from Belgium the day after his 18th birthday. He reportedly rents a penthouse on the eighth floor of a building in Fontvieille, valued at around $16m, and is regularly seen jogging around the neighborhood and working out on his balcony.

When asked why he made the move, he was characteristically direct, “To be honest, I think, for me, it’s nicer to live in Monaco than Amsterdam because I can be more myself. I don’t like to be recognized all the time.”

The financial case is significant. On a $70m salary, the zero income tax represents annual savings of around $31m compared to a UK-based equivalent. Over the length of his current Red Bull contract, the advantage runs to well over $100m.

3. Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc and His Partner in Miami. Credit: gpblog.com

Leclerc needs no residency application. He was born in Monte Carlo on October 16, 1997, studied at the Lycée Albert Premier in Monaco-Ville, and has never left.

His mother ran a hair salon in Fontvieille and his late father Hervé was a racing driver who competed in French Formula Three. Leclerc grew up watching the Grand Prix from behind the barriers, and in 2024 became the first Monegasque driver to win it since the World Championship was established.

On what Monaco means to him, “Monaco is the most special weekend for me. Born here, it’s where my passion for motorsport began. The track’s close walls amplify the speed, and knowing every corner makes it even more special.”

He’s also pushed back against the principality’s purely glamorous image, “From outside, I don’t think it gives the same image as the image I have of my own city. I have all my friends, all of my family, and there’s not all these glamorous parts of it, this party side.”

4. Lando Norris

Norris announced his move to Monaco in late 2021, admitting financial motivations openly. “It’s something that obviously a lot of drivers go to do and especially, with how racing is, we’ve seen for other drivers how quickly things can go downhill. I have to look after my things for my future. People do many things in life for money. This is just another one.”

That candor was notable. At 20 years old he’d previously said he was “firmly staying in the UK,” explaining that his salary at the time didn’t make the lifestyle sacrifice worthwhile and that missing golf and his friends wasn’t worth it.

A significantly bigger contract changed the math completely. By the 2022 Monaco weekend he was simply pleased to “wake up in my own bed.”

5. George Russell

Russell moved from Woking, Surrey to Monaco in 2022, shortly after stepping up to a full Mercedes race seat.

He’d spent his junior and Williams years based in England, but once his long-term future was settled at Mercedes, the Monaco move followed naturally. He’s previously spoken openly about his love for the area and is regularly seen cycling the Corniche routes between race weekends.

6. Oscar Piastri

Piastri and Verstappen Having a Discussion. Credit: racingnews365.com

Piastri hasn’t lived in Australia since 2016, having moved to Europe as a teenager to pursue his junior career. He initially based himself in the UK when he joined McLaren’s setup before relocating to Monaco in 2024.

The timing coincided with a sharp rise in both his earnings and his public profile following a breakthrough 2023 season. The tax saving at his salary level is already substantial, and his Monaco base puts him alongside his McLaren teammate Norris.

7. Carlos Sainz

Sainz holds a Spanish passport but moved to Monaco in 2024, reportedly living just five minutes from his former Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

The two have remained close since their time together at Ferrari and are regularly seen training together in the principality between race weekends. For Sainz, Monaco also provides a practical hub given his busy commercial schedule across Europe.

8. Alex Albon

Albon has been a Monaco resident since his return to the grid with Williams. Thai-British by nationality, he qualifies fully for the zero-income-tax arrangement, which is straightforwardly the main draw for any non-French driver at his level.

Away from racing, Albon is an avid sim racer and gamer, and has spoken about how Monaco’s privacy lets him live a relatively normal life between events. He and his partner Lily Muni He, a professional golfer, are regularly spotted around the principality. The lifestyle suits them both, because Monaco’s central location works as a base for her golf schedule as well as his F1 calendar.

9. Nico Hülkenberg

Hülkenberg lives in Monaco with his wife and young daughter, and he races for the newly rebranded Audi squad in 2026.

The German veteran is one of the most experienced drivers on the grid. At his salary level, and with a young family, Monaco’s combination of tax efficiency, security, and quality of life makes it a straightforward choice.

10. Oliver Bearman

Oliver Bearman in His Haas Racesuit. Credit: motorsport.com

Bearman moved into a Monaco property ahead of his first full F1 season at just 19 years old. As a British driver at the start of a significant earning trajectory, there’s nothing in UK tax law preventing him from accessing Monaco’s zero-income-tax status.

He’s one of the younger members of the Monaco F1 community, and his move was in keeping with a broader pattern of British drivers making the switch as soon as their contract value makes it worthwhile.

11. Gabriel Bortoleto

The Brazilian moved to Monaco after joining the grid with Sauber in 2025, and he races for Audi in 2026. As a non-French national, he qualifies fully for the tax arrangement.

His move follows a well-established pattern among South American drivers, who tend to base themselves in Monaco rather than commuting from home between European races. With no bilateral treaty complicating his tax position, the financial case is clean and compelling.

12. Franco Colapinto

Colapinto also recently took up Monaco residency, having secured a full-time Alpine seat for 2026. The Argentine driver benefits fully from the zero-income-tax arrangement.

His move is consistent with the broader trend of younger drivers establishing Monaco residency early in their careers rather than waiting. At 23, he’s set himself up for what looks like a long-term stay in the principality.

Why Do So Many F1 Drivers Live in Monaco?

Ferrari F1 Car Driving in Monaco. Credit: Magazine Prestige Villa Rental

Several factors stack on top of each other, but money is the one that triggers the decision for most. The lifestyle and privacy arguments tend to follow rather than lead.

1. Zero Income Tax

Monaco abolished personal income tax in 1869. For a non-French resident, there’s no income tax, no wealth tax, and no capital gains tax.

On a $30m salary, that’s potentially $10m-15m kept every single year compared to living in the UK or Germany. At Verstappen’s earning level, the saving exceeds $30m annually. Over a five-year contract, that’s career-defining money.

One important detail gets lost in the headlines. Monaco residency removes the home-country tax burden, but drivers still pay taxes on income earned in the country where each race takes place.

2. Privacy and Security

Monaco has strict laws preventing photographers from taking images of residents without permission. There’s 24-hour CCTV surveillance covering the entire principality and a police-to-population ratio far higher than any comparable location in Europe.

For drivers who can’t walk through London or Amsterdam without being filmed, this matters enormously. Verstappen’s comment about being able to “be more myself” in Monaco isn’t a polished line. It’s a genuine quality-of-life observation that drivers across the grid echo.

3. The Social Cluster Effect

Once enough drivers were already there, Monaco started selecting itself. When Norris moved in 2021, Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Valtteri Bottas, and Daniel Ricciardo were all already resident. He was joining an existing community.

The same applies to Bearman, Bortoleto, and Colapinto, who have all arrived in the last two seasons. There are private gyms catering to athlete-level training, cycling routes several drivers use regularly, and a social dynamic entirely distinct from anywhere else in Europe. Monaco is where F1 people go to be around other F1 people without it being an event.

4. The Central European Base

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport is 30km from Monaco and handles private jets daily. Eight or nine European races sit within a two-hour flight radius.

When the Monaco Grand Prix itself comes around, drivers simply drive home from the circuit. That specific luxury, sleeping in your own bed on a race weekend, is something several drivers have mentioned as one of the genuine pleasures of the Monaco round.

5. Climate and Lifestyle

Monaco sees around 300 days of sunshine per year. For drivers who came up racing through the British junior formulae in wet, gray conditions, the French Riviera is a genuine quality-of-life upgrade.

There are coastal cycling routes, high-quality restaurants, and world-class training facilities. Leclerc’s point about the non-glamorous version of Monaco, friends, family, the health club, the local streets he’s known his whole life, reflects what many resident drivers actually experience day to day.

Why Ocon and Gasly Don’t Benefit From Monaco

Pierre Gasly Using His Phone. Credit: gq-magazine.co.uk

Not every driver can access the structure. A bilateral treaty signed between France and Monaco in 1963 means French citizens who move to Monaco still owe full French income tax on their earnings.

As F1 photojournalist Kym Illman explained, “Unlike almost every other country, France has a special agreement with Monaco: if you’re a French citizen, even if you live in Monaco, you still owe taxes to France.”

That’s why Pierre Gasly lives in Milan and Esteban Ocon in Geneva despite both earning F1-level salaries. Charles Leclerc holds Monegasque citizenship and is entirely exempt from the French rule.

Where in Monaco Is Popular for F1 Drivers?

Monaco covers less than one square mile but divides into distinct districts. Drivers have clustered in three of them.

Fontvieille

The most popular address among current drivers. It’s the southernmost district, built on land reclaimed from the sea in the 1970s under Prince Rainier III, and sits directly adjacent to the Monaco Heliport.

Verstappen lives here, Hamilton is widely reported to as well, and several others are believed to be in the area. For drivers moving between race venues every fortnight, easy heliport access for the hop to Nice airport is a real practical convenience.

Fontvieille has a quieter, more residential character than Monte Carlo, with sea views, landscaped parks, and relatively little tourist traffic. Verstappen has also been linked with plans to eventually move to Mareterra, Monaco’s new coastal district on reclaimed land, which was completed in 2024. If he does, expect others to follow.

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo on a Cloudy Day. Credit: expedia.co.uk

Monaco’s most famous district, home to the Casino, the Hôtel de Paris, and the stretch of circuit that gives the Grand Prix much of its visual identity.

Property prices here are the highest in the principality, and the address carries prestige that appeals to drivers at the very top of the sport. Hamilton is reported to have a penthouse in Monte Carlo as well as his Fontvieille property. The Carré d’Or area in particular is home to numerous luxury residences sought by current and former drivers.

La Condamine

Sits between Monte Carlo and the Rock of Monaco, centered on Port Hercule. It has a more everyday commercial character, with a daily market, port views, and narrower streets.

Some drivers prefer this area for exactly that reason. Average property prices are still among the highest in Europe, but La Condamine tends to offer more space for the money than the Carré d’Or.

Across Monaco, the average price per square meter is around $62k (€55k), and a modestly sized apartment routinely costs several million euros. An average property in Monaco’s top districts costs roughly twice the equivalent in London’s Mayfair.

Monaco Residency Rules Still Apply to F1 Drivers

Moving to Monaco requires more than just signing a lease. The process involves real financial and administrative requirements.

Applicants must demonstrate financial liquidity of at least $565k (€500k) deposited in a Monaco bank, though in practice banks often require considerably more. They also need proof of accommodation, a clean criminal record, and for non-EU nationals, a French long-stay visa before the Monaco residency application can begin.

The residency card, known as the Carte de Séjour, starts as a one-year temporary permit. It renews annually for three years, then issues for longer periods up to a ten-year “Privilege” card. For the ten-year card, proof of 183 days per year in Monaco is required.

Tax residency, the separate Certificate of Domicile that locks in the zero-income-tax benefit, requires those 183 days to be backed up with utility bills, bank statements with Monaco activity, gym memberships, and other evidence of actual daily life in the principality. Authorities have become increasingly thorough. Simply renting a flat and flying in occasionally won’t pass scrutiny.

Given an F1 season involves 24 race weekends, drivers use the gaps between races as their Monaco residency window, treating the principality as a genuine base rather than a letter-drop address.

Monegasque citizenship is theoretically available after 10-20 years of continuous residence, but requires renouncing all previous nationalities, a step no current grid driver is believed to have taken.

A History of F1 Drivers Who Have Lived in Monaco

Monaco’s relationship with F1 drivers predates the current grid by decades. The tradition runs through the sport’s entire history.

Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna in His F1 Car. Credit: autohebdof1.com

The most historically significant Monaco resident in F1 history, and perhaps the single figure most responsible for cementing the principality’s mythological status in the sport. His apartment overlooked Port Hercule with white marble floors and views across the harbor.

The detail that most captures the relationship came in 1988, when Senna was leading the Monaco Grand Prix comfortably with 12 laps remaining and crashed at Portier after losing concentration. Visibly upset, he climbed out of the car and walked home to his apartment alone, not returning to the pits that day. The McLaren crew didn’t hear from him until that evening.

He came back the following year and won five Monaco Grands Prix in a row from 1989 to 1993. His total of six Monaco victories remains the record.

Nico Rosberg

He grew up in Monaco as the son of 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg, so his connection to the principality runs deeper than almost any other driver’s. He knows the streets as intimately as Leclerc does, having raced go-karts through them as a child.

After winning the 2016 world championship and retiring, Rosberg remained in Monaco, where he’s said to have a personal relationship with the Princely family. It was Keke Rosberg’s private jet that first brought a 13-year-old Lewis Hamilton to the principality, beginning his own long association with the place.

David Coulthard

Coulthard has been a Monaco resident since 1995 and is one of the longest-serving F1 figures in the principality. He owned the Columbus Hotel in Monaco until 2020 and built a second career as a broadcaster and commentator while remaining resident. Over three decades, Coulthard has become genuinely embedded in the local community.

Jenson Button

Button lived in Monaco during his F1 career. He won the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix driving for Brawn GP in a season that also delivered his one and only world championship. He had crashed heavily at the tunnel exit during a 2003 practice session, and six years later he won the race.

Mika Häkkinen

Mika settled in Monaco during his McLaren championship years in the late 1990s and never really left. The two-time world champion remains resident today, decades after his last race. His continued presence, alongside Coulthard and Rosberg, reinforces just how permanent most Monaco moves turn out to be. For most of these drivers, it isn’t a temporary tax arrangement, because it becomes home.

Other notable former drivers who have lived in Monaco include Daniel Ricciardo, Mark Webber, Daniil Kvyat, Antonio Giovinazzi, Paul di Resta, and Riccardo Patrese.

Why Some F1 Drivers Don’t Live in Monaco

Fernando Alonso and Teammate Lance Stroll. Credit: formula1.com

Fernando Alonso

Alonso lives in Switzerland, consistent with his preference for keeping a base close to Europe’s racing heartland. Switzerland isn’t zero-percent income tax, but its rates for high-net-worth individuals are competitive, and Alonso has used it as his primary base for most of his career.

Lance Stroll

Stroll also lives in Switzerland, which makes practical sense given his father Lawrence Stroll‘s extensive business interests across Europe.

Pierre Gasly

As a French citizen, the 1963 treaty means Gasly would owe French tax regardless of where he lives. Monaco’s lifestyle costs without any tax benefit simply don’t stack up. Milan has been his base since his time at AlphaTauri in nearby Faenza, and it still gives him a practical European base for his Alpine role.

Esteban Ocon

The same French treaty applies to Ocon. Geneva offers lower rates than France but can’t match Monaco’s structure, and unlike Monaco it actually provides a genuine tax advantage for a French national.

Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli in His Mercedes Top. Credit: titansports.mx

Antonelli is reported to live in San Marino, within easy reach of his family in Bologna. The microstate’s tax system is far lighter than Italy’s, which makes it a tax-efficient choice that gets far less attention than the Monaco arrangement.

FAQ

Do all F1 drivers live in Monaco?

No. Twelve of the 22 drivers on the 2026 grid are Monaco residents. Others live in Switzerland, Italy, San Marino, and their home countries. French nationals like Gasly and Ocon can’t access Monaco’s tax-free status due to a 1963 bilateral treaty between France and Monaco, so living there would offer no financial benefit.

Why do F1 drivers move to Monaco?

The primary reason is zero income tax. Monaco levies no personal income tax on residents (except French citizens), which on a salary of $30m-70m represents savings of tens of millions per year. Privacy laws, security, central European location, and lifestyle factors all contribute, but the tax calculation is what triggers most moves.

Is Charles Leclerc actually from Monaco?

Yes. Leclerc was born in Monte Carlo on October 16, 1997 and has lived there his entire life. He studied at the Lycée Albert Premier, grew up watching the Grand Prix from the barriers, and in 2024 became the first Monegasque driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix under the modern World Championship.

How much money do you need to live in Monaco?

Residency requires a Monaco bank deposit of at least $565k (€500k), though banks often expect more. Property averages around $62k (€55k) per square meter, so a modest apartment typically costs several million euros. Maintaining tax residency requires spending at least 183 days per year in the principality, and that has to be backed by evidence rather than simply claimed.

Can French F1 drivers benefit from living in Monaco?

No. A bilateral treaty signed in 1963 means French citizens resident in Monaco remain fully subject to French income tax. Gasly, Ocon, and other French nationals on the grid choose to live elsewhere because Monaco’s lifestyle costs without the tax benefit don’t make sense. Leclerc holds Monegasque citizenship and is exempt from this rule.

Where in Monaco do F1 drivers tend to live?

Most cluster in Fontvieille, the southern district near the heliport, and in Monte Carlo around the Casino and Carré d’Or. La Condamine near Port Hercule also houses some. Specific addresses are never officially confirmed given Monaco’s strict privacy laws.

Did Ayrton Senna live in Monaco?

Yes. Senna was a Monaco resident throughout much of his F1 career, with an apartment overlooking Port Hercule. When he crashed out of the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix while leading with 12 laps to go, he walked home from the circuit alone. He won the Monaco Grand Prix six times, more than any driver in history.

Why is the Monaco Grand Prix special for resident drivers?

For drivers who live there, it’s the one race where they sleep in their own beds, race streets they know personally, and do it in front of their neighbors. Norris described waking up in his own bed as one of the genuine pleasures of the weekend. Leclerc grew up watching from the barriers. Hamilton’s connection goes back to a childhood jet ride that first showed him what Monaco life looked like. For all of them, Monaco is home as much as it’s a circuit.