The track has remained substantially unchanged since its creation in 1929: as a city circuit, its conformation is closely linked to that of the principality's road system.

In the first editions of the Grand Prix, the start and finish were placed on Boulevard Albert 1er (the innermost straight, which leads to the Sainte Dévote curve).

The swimming pool and the waterfront lane that 10 years later would become part of the circuit had already been created, but at that point in time no changes were made to the track from the "Tabac" to the "Gasometer".

This solution lasted only a year and, in the following months, the main works were completed in time for the 1973 Grand Prix with the construction of a new section, connecting the "Tabac" curve to "Piscine" (Stade Nautique).

This change added 0.133 km (0.083 mi) to the circuit – bringing its total length to 3.278 km (2.037 mi) – adding the new portion along the harbour, which followed the layout of the swimming pool and ended in a new chicane around the "La Rascasse" restaurant and a slight climb to the "Anthony Noghes Curve" before rejoining the starting straight.

At the exit of the tunnel there was the traditional port chicane and, after the "Tabac" curve, the new path adjacent to the swimming pools (two "S" left–right and right–left connected by a short straight) and "La Rascasse" hairpin.

It was the first year for the new garages in an independent lane, with an entrance just after "La Rascasse", where an asphalt slide was installed to overcome the difference in level from the roadway.

In 1976 the "Sainte Dévote" and "Anthony Noghes" corners were modified: in order to slow down the transit of the cars, curbs and protections were repositioned.

In 1997 the first "Piscine" corner was modified: the shifting of the track edge protections improved the visibility for the drivers and allowed a higher speed.

However, the most important novelty was the widening of the port lane: in this way the segment between "Piscine" and "La Rascasse" could be rectified, becoming faster and less demanding.

The extra space also allowed for the installation of new grandstands and the expansion of the pit lane, which was also equipped with semi-permanent two-storey buildings (instead of the previous tiny prefabricated structures) to better accommodate the teams, the technicians and the material.

Before the 2007 season, the internal curb of the "Grand Hotel" hairpin was significantly lowered and widened, in order to allow the single-seaters to climb on it and eventually face the curve with a narrower trajectory.

In 2002, a substantial amount of land was reclaimed from the harbour to slightly change the shape of one section of the circuit; this left more space for new pit garages, which debuted in the 2004 event.

The cars snake down Avenue des Beaux Arts, the next short straight, avoiding an enormous bump on the left of the track, a reminder of the unique nature of the circuit.

As well as the change of light making visibility poor,[10] a car can lose 20–30% of its downforce due to the unique aerodynamic properties of the tunnel.

As it is virtually indoors, the tunnel usually remains dry while the rest of the track is wet, with only the cars bringing in water from their tyres.

Following Piscine, there is a short straight followed by heavy braking for a quick left which is immediately followed by the tight 135-degree right-hander called La Rascasse.

This is another corner that requires full steering lock; it is remembered as the location of one of the most suspicious manoeuvres in recent Formula One history when Michael Schumacher appeared to deliberately stop his car during qualifying for the 2006 race so as to prevent Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber – who were both following and were on flying laps – from out-qualifying him.

Named after the organiser of the first Monaco Grand Prix, the corner is a tight right-hander which brings the cars back onto the start-finish straight, and across the line to start a new lap.

In the past many teams used to adjust the radiator intakes to allow for extra airflow, creating the once-common "Monaco nose".

[14] A special steering rack with a larger pinion gear is also fitted to allow the cars to be driven around the tightest corners.

On 18 September 2014 it was announced the Formula E would be racing on a shorter 1.760 km (1.094 mi) version of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit, which was subsequently used for the 2014–15, 2016–17 and 2018–19 seasons.

Criticism has been directed towards how few overtake attempts are performed, the slow speeds at which the cars take the Fairmont Hairpin, as well as how frequently the driver who sets the pole position wins.

"[22][23] There have been various ideas on how to give racers more opportunity to pass, and one of these is to extend the race track along the east side of Hercules harbor and add a second DRS zone.

Monaco, in general, has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa), although since the track is only used for a brief period in May, when it is being used it has a narrower temperature range than the principality itself has throughout the year.

For the Monaco Grand Prix, temperatures are usually around 20 °C (68 °F) in terms of ambient conditions, whereas sun exposure can make the track itself a bit warmer than that.

Although the Mediterranean precipitation pattern leads to Monaco being quite dry by late May, due to the urban and narrow nature of the circuit, rainfall combined with the painted areas and the long tunnel makes wet racing extremely challenging.