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| - The 1974 Monaco Grand Prix, also known as the XXXII Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco, was the sixth round of the 1974 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged on the 26th of May at the Circuit de Monaco. The race would be remembered for a huge crash on the run to Massanet during the opening lap, which removed seven drivers from the midfield pack. Qualifying had seen Ferraris new rising star Niki Lauda claim pole, with teammate Clay Regazzoni ensuring a front row lockout for the scarlet cars. Ronnie Peterson was best of the rest for Lotus in third, while Rikky von Opel was the odd-man out, being the only driver who failed to qualify. The start of the race proved clean enough, with Lauda and Regazzoni streaking away from Peterson through Sainte Devote. Then, as the field started the charge up the hill to Massanet, Denny Hulme tried to make a move on Jean-Pierre Beltoise, only to run out of room through the Armco alley. The Kiwi duly bounced into the BRM while trying to get back into the queue, before his McLaren spat itself off the barriers and blocked the circuit. Inspite of the number of ruined F1 cars, the race was not stopped, although the marshals struggled to move Hulme's ruined McLaren. The ensuing melee behind had also eliminated Arturo Merzario, Carlos Pace and Brian Redman, while Beltoise and Vittorio Brambilla managed to limp into the pits before being retired. Tim Schenken managed to get his car onto the harbour front before calling it a day, aiding the marshals successful attempts to get the road clear bar Hulme's car before the leaders came through Sainte Devote for a second time. The second lap proved to be far cleaner, and rather more interesting for the leaders as Jean-Pierre Jarier at least managed to challenge the Ferraris into Sainte Devote. Peterson then began to monopolise the fans' attentions by taking the Shadow, while James Hunt and Hans-Joachim Stuck battled away over sixth. The following laps saw more carnage in the midfield, starting with Stuck when he smacked into the Armco at Casino Square, breaking his thumb in the process. François Migault was next, a brake failure at the chicane seeing him fly into the catch fencing, fortunately escaping his now rather second hand BRM without issue. Then, Carlos Reutemann was eliminated after smacking into Peterson at Rascasse, although the Swede would continue on having dropped to sixth. Mike Hailwood's trip to the barriers after hitting an oil slick on lap twelve meant that there were only thirteen cars still running. Yet, on track, there was still some fighting to be done, and Peterson was making up for his mistake at Rascasse by taking Scheckter, moments before Regazzoni spun himself out of the lead at the same corner. The Swiss racer rejoined down in fifth, but his confidence had been knocked by the incident and he failed to make his way up the order. Peterson, in contrast, was now flying, and duly passed Jarier for second before hunting down the new race leader Lauda. The Austrian, however, proved far more stubborn than either Jarier or Scheckter, and so the black/gold Lotus was stuck behind the scarlet Ferrari for the time being. Behind, Scheckter managed to claim third from Jarier, while Hunt dropped out with a failure. There would be one final twist, for Lauda would suffer an engine failure as the race approached half-distance, handing the lead to Peterson. That was the last major change to the race order, with the Swede streaking away to claim a win in one of the most incident packed Grand Prix in recent memory. Scheckter and Jarier held station to complete the podium ahead of Regazzoni, while Emerson Fittipaldi and John Watson had relatively quiet afternoons to complete the point scorers.
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