by Russell Atkins
The Monaco Grand Prix is the undisputed jewel in
Formula 1's glittering crown, and as such the race every driver wants to win. The good news – for competitors and spectators alike – is that this year it would seem as many as seven drivers potentially could.
Four of the 20 drivers on the grand prix grid have mastered the narrow, winding, tortuous streets of the Principality to triumph, with a further seven making it up onto the podium since the turn of the Millennium. The rewards for those who not only survive the gruelling, 78-lap dash around the Principality but indeed thrive upon it are beyond compare – as
Kimi Raikkonen,
Fernando Alonso,
Jarno Trulli and
David Coulthard can tell you.
So who would appear to be in the pound seats as the 2008 edition approaches apace this weekend, with the opening practice session now under 24 hours away..?
Ferrari may have been the team to beat throughout the season to-date – emerging victorious in four of the five races held thus far and opening up a handy advantage in the constructors' title chase – but the scarlet machines struggled at Monte Carlo last year, languishing so far off the pace that
Felipe Massa in third was a staggering 70 seconds adrift of the two McLaren-Mercedes' at the chequered flag and perilously close to being lapped.
The
Scuderia is confident that it has cured the high-downforce, slow-speed woes that saw it comfortably defeated by the Silver Arrows in both Monaco and Montreal twelve months ago, and as a past master, Raikkonen knows what is required to triumph in the most glamorous, coveted and prestigious race on the
F1 calendar.
