1961
New regulations were introduced in 1961 to reduce the increasing performance of the 2.5 litre cars. All Formula 1 cars had to run under the 1.5 liter mark. Many experts had predicted that it would make the sport boring with underpowered cars but they would soon be proved wrong. Ferrari prepared for the new regulation change and brought their 156 with a flat engine. Most of the other manufacturers were not ready for the transition down to 1.5 liter engines and just hoped the rules would not change.
Cooper brought back their same driver lineup as the year previous and Ferrari brought Ginther, Hill and Von Trips to take part in the Monaco Grand Prix. Jo Bonnier and Dan Gurney transferred from BRM to Porsche with Hans Hermann and Tony Brooks went to BRM. Olivier Gendebien went to Equipe Nationale Belge and John Surtees transferred from Lotus to drive a Cooper for Reg Parnell. Team Lotus drivers Jim Clark and Innes Ireland both crashed heavily in practice, Irelands crash in the tunnel was the most serious as he selected the wrong gear in the new ZF box and the rear wheels locked. Innes was thrown out and later in his discriptive way said "I came out of the ******* tunnel without the ******* car", like a cork from a bottle.
The starting lineup for the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, showed Moss on the pole with Clark in second and Ginther on the third spot. Ginther started with the early lead but was not able to hold it for long. His car experienced problems with the fuel line and soon both Moss and Clark passed him. Bonnier and Ginther followed Moss and Clark to take third and fourth. On lap twenty-four Phil Hill made a leap forward and passed both Ginther and Bonnier to move into second but was still a ways from catching Moss. By lap thirty, Hill was less than ten seconds behind Moss but would later suffer from a misfire and fading brakes.
Hill waved by Ginther to challenge Moss for the win and the two went at it. During this time both racers started taking lap after lap that was faster than the qualifying laps. Ginther soon posted times that had rivaled McLaren's lap record. For ten laps they were never more than five seconds apart but in the end Moss was able to take the Monaco Grand Prix victory. Ginther finished second and Hill finished third. Von Trips was able to qualify as fourth even though he crashed on his last lap.
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired |
| 1 | 20 | Stirling Moss | Lotus-Climax | 100 | 2:45:50.1 |
| 2 | 36 | Richie Ginther | Ferrari | 100 | 3.6 |
| 3 | 38 | Phil Hill | Ferrari | 100 | 41.3 |
| 4 | 40 | Wolfgang von Trips | Ferrari | 98 | Accident |
| 5 | 4 | Dan Gurney | Porsche | 98 | + 2 Laps |
| 6 | 26 | Bruce McLaren | Cooper-Climax | 95 | + 5 Laps |
| 7 | 42 | Maurice Trintignant | Cooper-Maserati | 95 | + 5 Laps |
| 8 | 32 | Cliff Allison | Lotus-Climax | 93 | + 7 Laps |
| 9 | 6 | Hans Herrmann | Porsche | 91 | + 9 Laps |
| 10 | 28 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | 89 | + 11 Laps |