Monaco Baby...Yeah!

It's about time I gave a full and heartfelt thank you to sky sports for freeing up my weekend, as this will be the first time since 1990 I have not sat down to watch live the magic that is the Monaco Grand Prix.

In 2001 I actually had tickets for a Rugby Sevens tournament at Twickenham to which I took a small portable television. It was optimistic as in all the years I'd persevered with this device I had only ever once managed to find a channel, in black and white and through a severe snowstorm.

Thankfully, unlike at most round-ball stadiums drinking at rugby venues is positively encouraged, and on one of my trips to the bar I'd noticed that the TV was set to ITV, and Brundle was walking his grid. So there I stayed. Whilst outside the nations of the World battled against each other, i remained in the bar watching David Coulthard desperately trying to get by Enrique Bernoldi.

Monaco is the last remnant of what motor racing used to be. Even back in 1929 it must have been completely unsuitable for a Grand Prix, but it was to be the ultimate test of man and machine, where the smallest error would be punished and the larger ones result in a Mediterranean dip. Had it not always been there then it's impossible to think that it ever could have happened. If you'd let the modern F1 track designers loose on the city today then the harbour would have been filled in to create run-off and the main straight and DRS zone would have begun in Nice.

Of course of all the venues on the calendar Monaco is the place where anything can happen. Who could ever forget the 1996 Grand Prix, which was supposed to be the year Damon Hill finally took that elusive win on the streets his father had made his own. However, on this day the sky-gods had other plans.

Between P3 and the race the heavens opened. On a wet track Hill jumped pole-sitter Schumacher into St Devote and began to pull away, Schumi's race was over a few corners later as he slid off at Mirabeau and into the wall. In total 5 cars failed to finish that first lap which turned out to be an omen of things to come.

Hill's challenge disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke 40 laps in as his Renault engine expired coming out of the tunnel. Jean Alesi looked to inherit a popular win but he to was forced out on lap 60 with suspension failure. On a day where 18 of the 21 starters dropped by the wayside, the luck fell to the hard charging Olivier Panis to snatch his sole GP victory, beating the McLaren of David Coulthard by almost 5 seconds.

It would take a lot for this Sundays race to top the entertainment value of 1996, but with controversies over rapidly degrading tyres in the headlines maybe we could see someone different on the top step this weekend. Not to mention what might happen if the sky-gods decide it's time for a wet race.

Thanks to Sky I'm not going to be watching the race live this year, but i'm not watching it live with extra cash in my pocket. Whatever lies in wait for me on the BBC highlights, i hope it's time for another Monaco classic.