A temporary circuit on the roads of Monsanto Forest Park on the western side of Lisbon, considered difficult because it crossed many different surfaces: tarmac, a cobbled crossing, tramlines and a concrete dual carriageway that ran uphill and dead straight for nearly a kilometre. Its only World Championship race, the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix, was started late in the afternoon to avoid the summer heat; Stirling Moss won from pole in Rob Walker's Cooper, set fastest lap and lapped the entire field. Formula 1 never returned; from 1961 a shortened Montes Claros layout without the motorway section held national races until about 1971, when safety concerns and the arrival of the permanent Estoril circuit ended racing in the park. No memorials or circuit buildings remain, but many of the park roads used in 1959 still follow the same routes.
Lap length
5.440 km
Direction
clockwise
Layout described
Circuito de Monsanto, a 5.440 km temporary circuit on the roads of Monsanto Forest Park, Lisbon, used 1953-1959; Formula 1 used it only for the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix
Gridpedia