Formula 1: Monaco Grand Prix - 5 Classic races featuring - Senna, Prost, Raikkonen and more

Among the most sought-after and picture-perfect races in the marquee, the Grand Prix at Monte Carlo, Monaco is a stand out event each year in Formula One. You can expect nothing less than a titanic fight to the checkered flag in the topsy-turvy albeit grandiose lanes of a truly spectacular track here at Monaco.

Fueled by a narrow circuit, peppered by high-speed corners and presenting drivers an onerous challenge of racing on a track where overtaking is next to impossible, it’s not hard to understand why Monaco is such an incredibly watched spectacle in the entirety of F1 calendar.

Let’s take a rewind of some classic races here at the heart of the Principality.

What are the races that have catapulted the Grand Prix of Monte Carlo to the attention of everyone in the world?

2017 Monaco Grand Prix

Kimi Raikkonen, Monaco Grand Prix 2017.

The 2017 Monaco Grand Prix might have earned Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen 15 valuable points and one among the 7 podiums he secured in the season, the race would be most remembered for Ferrari spoiling pole-sitter Kimi’s chances of securing his maiden win ever since his return to the Prancing Horse in 2014.

When was the last time one saw a driver securing a second-place finish cutting such a low-key and desolate figure on the podium?

Even as the Iceman didn’t lose his cool despite losing out controversially to teammate Vettel in a race that was his for the taking, you could say the taste of the champagne wasn’t the best for the Finn.

By lap 35, when Raikkonen pitted for a set of new tyres, something he wouldn’t have expected that early into the 78-lap race, the race underwent a change in leadership, with Sebastian Vettel taking the lead after his teammate pitted.

From thereon emerged a period of enormous struggle for Kimi Raikkonen, who tried desperately to find a weakling in Vettel’s defenses in recapturing track position in the fight to the checkered flag. This would be something that would never happen as the Iceman had to contend with a P2.

While this was a great team result for Ferrari who utterly dominated the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes, the Grand Prix in 2017 might fuel Raikkonen to produce another sweltering performance this weekend.

So can the Iceman bounce back this weekend?

1984 Monaco Grand Prix

1984 Grand Prix de Monaco clinched by Prost

Aced by the ‘professor’, the closest rival to Senna, Alain Prost registered one of his magnificent triumphs ever at F1’s signature event at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Back in 1984, held under tumultuous weather conditions, at one stage the Monte Carlo Grand Prix came to a position where it was halted completely seeking a brief moment of reprieve from the rains.

One of the most debated races in the Principality, fuelling suspicion and afterthoughts such as whether Senna or Bellof would’ve clinched victory had the race not been stopped, Prost’s form had looked imperious ever since he began his charge in the initial corners of the 77-lap contest.

Defending well from the German driver Bellof, a new driver who showed signs of great maturity quite like Senna-running his debut street circuit race- Prost eventually squeezed out a win even if it looked indomitable at one stage

2004 Monaco Grand Prix

Renault driver Jarno Trulli (L) with team boss Flavio Briatore

One of the finest race wins for Italian driver Jarno Trulli who put his Renault right on top at an action-packed race, the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix will always be remembered for Trulli’s brave defending and clinical domination over the course of 77 laps.

Right at the start of the competition, ever since Bar Honda’s Jenson Button began mounting pressure over Trulli, the Italian had his task cut out, having started from pole.

A race that was Trulli’s to lose saw the Italian fending off the attack from Schumacher and Alonso, the dangerous duo occupying the second row at the start and challenging the Renault driver till the very end for the leadership position.

No stranger to the deployment of the virtual safety car, Trulli was uncompromising on raw pace and clocked three fastest laps, nearly on the trot by the time Lap 8 was complete.

In the end, it was Trulli’s dogged determination that won him an enthralling contest.

1996 Monaco Grand Prix

Oliver Panis of France en route to victory

An incredible racing contest, trumped by Oliver Panis for Mugen Motorsport, the 1996 thriller was a wet-weather race, so implicit to the heart of one of F1’s most admired tracks.

Incredibly, the race that at the start saw 21 cars running in contention for the fight to the checkered flag saw only 3 contending in the final moments in an incredibly action-packed GP that was aced by the Frenchman, Oliver Panis.

By the time Lap 1 was complete, 3 of the 21 cars had bowed out of the race, including Andrea Montermini’s Ford that couldn’t be repaired in the aftermath of a warm cup crash and Schumacher’s Ferrari, that crashed into the back of Ste Dovete, resulting from a series of collisions further down the grid at the start of the Grand Prix.

Interestingly, by lap 11, by which time the wet weather had begun affecting the race tremendously, only 11 cars were running in contention.

This would, soon after, change to four cars owing to a big collision between Mika Hakkinen, Eddie Irvine, and Mika Salo, with two further race retirements of Luca Badoer and Damon Hill severely hampering the Grand Prix further.

Eventually, Frenchman Panis won the Grand Prix and to this day remains the most recent French racing driver to have aced the Monaco Grand Prix, his triumph dating back to over two decades in time.

Ayrton Senna Racing at Monaco Grand Prix 1992.

Ayrton Senna at Monte Carlo.

The driver with the most wins here, 6, if there was someone who transformed the sweltering and posh motor racing track into a festival of speed and pure skill then was the late great- Ayrton Senna.

Back in 1992, Senna gave motor racing fans a glimpse of his quintessential grit as he clinched a closely fought race fending off an attacking Nigel Mansell in a Williams-Renault.

Having started the race on pole and continuing to hold on to his first-place position well into Lap 71, Mansell endured a suspected tyre puncture in the left rear and pitted for a new set.

From thereon, he would emerge behind Senna, blazing in his McLaren-Honda. But despite being on a fresher set of tyres and going better than two -tenths of a second faster than Senna, the Briton could find no way to go past the Brazilian’s defences.

A race reminiscent of Ayrton Senna’s brave defending from a car that was clearly, way quicker than his waning McLaren made the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix a titanic duel, especially in the dying moments of the 78-lap competition.

It could be added that way, the Monte Carlo GP, is in fact, among the best races ever is owing to its historic romance of producing thrill-fests that beat all calculations and the sheer imposing challenges that drivers have to overcome in winning a race.

Which 5 races have made the Monaco Grand Prix a legendary event to remember and why?