Video: Monaco GP history 1974-2008

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Guest writer Journeyer concludes his two-part guide to the Monaco Grand Prix.

If you thought part one yesterday was great, then you’ll love part two!

This covers some of the more recent Monaco magical moments from the 1980s up to 2007:

1981: This was a key win in Gilles Villeneuve’s career. It was his first win in car number 27, and Ferrari’s first turbo win. It was also a win against the odds, after Nelson Piquet (Brabham) was forced into a mistake by Alan Jones (Williams), who then began to slow due to a cutting engine.

1982: Rene Arnoux (Renault), Alain Prost (Renault), Didier Pironi (Ferrari), Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo),Derek Daly (Williams) – all of them led the race at some point, and all of them went out while they were leading. It was left to Riccardo Patrese (Brabham) – who also spun off while in the lead – to tiptoe through to his first Grand Prix win.

Oh, and I just love the narrator of this year’s season review (Clive James). If only he still did them now…

1984: If 1982 saw a shower, in 1984 there was a monsoon. Conditions were so bad that Murray Walker and James Hunt kept losing both their audio and video feeds.

Prost, now with McLaren, dominated the race, especially after Nigel Mansell spun off in the Lotus, but he wanted the race stopped at around the same time a young Ayrton Senna began to close in his Toleman. Jacky Ickx saw Prost waving his hands and duly decided to stop the race – controversially, without consulting the other stewards before the decision.

Prost hung on to win on a day title rival Niki Lauda did not score, Prost only scored 4.5 points for a win at half-distance instead of 6 for a full-distance second place. At the end of the year the French driver lost the title by half a point…

1988: Many of you probably know the story: Senna way ahead all weekend, duly dominating the race. Then Ron Dennis asked him to slow down so he didn’t make a mistake. Senna slowed down – then made a mistake at Portier, handing the win to Prost on a plate. Senna jumped out of the car and runs to his condo where he hid for the rest of the day.

However, there have been recent theories that there could have been a deflating tyre involved, which meant that Senna did not have full control of his car when he went into the wall at Portier. Whatever it was, this was one of the most shocking moments in Monaco history.

1992: Four years on, and it was Mansell (now with Williams) who was way ahead all weekend, duly dominating the race. Then out of nowhere, he ducked into the pits, suspecting a deflating tyre. He came out behind Senna, duly starting one of the greatest battles in Monaco history.

1996: It was like 1982 all over again. Just as in 1982, it was rainy. Just as in 1982, the person who occupied the lead seemed to be cursed, as Schumacher (Ferrari), Damon Hill (Williams), and Jean Alesi (Benetton) all held P1 at some point, only to go out of the race soon after. And just like 1982, someone tiptoed to his first F1 win – in this case, Olivier Panis (Ligier).

Oh, and do take note of David Coulthard’s helmet when you see it in this clip. You’ll notice something… different.

1997: Yet another rainy race. But Michael Schumacher did not make the same mistake twice, dominating this race from start to finish to give Ferrari their first win since Gilles in 1981. Rubens Barrichello also gave Stewart their first ever podium here by holding off Eddie Irvine for 2nd place.

The clip below is actually Part 1 of the full race, you can just check the related videos for the other parts.

2001: David Coulthard (McLaren) has usually run well at Monaco, and this year was no exception – at least on the Saturday. He took a brilliant pole, only for it to be wasted when his electronics gave up on him, stalling the car. Those who watched the race will never forget his battle with… Enrique Bernoldi’s Arrows. Not quite a front-runner, but still, lots of fun to watch.

Michael Schumacher won the race though, effectively ending any further opposition to his 2001 title.

2006: There was one corner that was the talk of the town that year: Rascasse.

As we all know, Schumacher stopped on track at this corner after making a mistake. Fernando Alonso (Renault) was furious to see his last chance at pole ruined. Was it on purpose or not? Take a look at the video below and be the judge.

As for the race, Schumacher’s pole was dropped, leaving him at the back of the grid, just like Coulthard five years back. And just like Coulthard, he managed to fight back to fifth. And as for Alonso, the road was clear for him to take his first Monaco win.

2007: One year on, and Alonso and the now retired Schumacher seemed to be good pals (as you’ll see at the start of this video). Alonso (now with McLaren) now focused his attention on teammate Lewis Hamilton, who challenged him for much of the race. Although Alonso won, word leaked that Hamilton was brought it early so that he wouldn’t challenge Alonso (which could have resulted in a collision taking both of them out). Hamilton fanned the flames saying that he was being treated as a number two driver. Thus began the war between Alonso and the rest of McLaren.

You may also be amused by Raikkonen’s qualifying mistake at Piscine and his subsequent stop at a corner which seems to be reserved for Ferrari. His stop also nearly caught Massa out, meaning they were nicely parked beside each other.

And finally, we reach 2008. The stage is set for the most glamorous race of the season. Of the current grid, only Alonso and Coulthard have won this race more than once. Who will rise to the occasion and win here at Monaco?

Read part one: Monaco GP history 1929-73

Share your experiences of visiting the Monaco Grand Prix here.

This was a guest article by Journeyer. If you’re interested in writing for F1 Fanatic look at the information for guest writers here.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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8 comments on “Video: Monaco GP history 1974-2008”

  1. sChUmAcHeRtHeGrEaTeStEvEr
    22nd May 2008, 8:48

    97′ schumacher 6 seconds ahead after 1 lap

  2. Re: Senna and the 1988 win that got away – the ‘recent theories’ of a deflated tyre have no weight to them at all. On several occasions McLaren figures such as Ron Dennis and Jo Ramirez dismissed any mechanical failure. Senna admitted that the accident was his own fault and that it’s impact on him was colossal in terms of his mental approach to a GP weekend (see for example Christopher Hilton’s excellent first book on him – The Hard Edge of Genius). Senna, having driven at a super-elevated level for the whole weekend, simply made a mistake for a fleeting second. He had a lead of over 50 seconds at the time of the accident – Prost had spent the majority of the race behind Berger’s Ferrari and lost a lot of time. Having cleared Gerhard he wondered, just wondered, what the effect of applying a little pressure to Ayrton might be, and duly set the fastest lap of the race. Senna instantly responded, and went quicker still. Ron Dennis tried to calm him over the radio, reminding him of the size of his lead, that Prost couldn’t possibly catch him but, as Jo Ramirez remembers ‘slow down wasn’t in his vocabulary then’. The next lap he went quicker still. On lap 67 his concentration skipped for a second at Portier – he glanced the right front tyre off the inside barrier and skittered wide into the outside crash barrier. It was over. A great race that deserves its place in F1 legend – this was a key moment in the battle between Prost and Senna.

    I still remember Michael’s ’97 victory as one of the most stunning performances I’ve ever seen – fully agree with sChUmAcHeRtHeGrEaTeStEvEr on that one!

    But the most sublime on-car footage you will ever see has to be that of Senna at Monaco in the 1990 McLaren (it’s on You Tube somewhere). I’d seen nothing like it since… until Lewis danced that silver arrow around the streets of Monte Carlo last year. I can’t wait for the weekend.

  3. Clive James commentating on the season review is great. Hes always so funny but without being too disrespectful. Thanks for the videos :)

  4. I remember Monaco 96. Only 4 cars finished. The funniest part was when Irvine did a donut to turn back round just at the point Salo and Hakkinen were coming around the corner! Hilarious

  5. Was it the Monaco 96 GP when Salo almost drove the whole GP without any pitstops? Well, he would have driven the whole GP without stopping if he had not collided with someone just before the end…

  6. Robert McKay
    22nd May 2008, 20:05

    Great article Journeyer, good read.

    It took me a couple of watches to notice it: is that DC wearing a helmet of Micheal’s? If so, why?

  7. Clive James comments are funny,I don’t know what I liked best:

    “The other car is so far behind him that it is in front of him” or “the crowd applauses as if it all makes sense”

  8. Hey Robert, DC wore Schumi’s helmet because his own helmet wasn’t working well enough to keep the rain and mist out. So he had to borrow another helmet which also had Marlboro sponsorship (as McLaren was on its last year with Philip Morris).

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