Ayrton Senna was regarded as the master of Monaco and here is pictured driving through La Rasscasse corner in 1990.

Senna’s superior ability on this circuit was apparent from his first season in F1 while driving for the Toleman team in 1984. The old adage that a wet race highlights the supremely talented proved to be the case in Monaco where Senna began from 13th on the grid. A combination of collisions and overtaking manoeuvres saw Senna progress through the field to second and he was catching the leader Alain Prost at two seconds per lap. Prost could be seen waving his hand out of the cockpit towards the race officials, protesting about the worsening conditions, and the grand prix was stopped the following lap. Had the race continued Senna would have undoubtedly clinched his first career win.

In 1988 Senna was driving for McLaren and once again put in an imperious display of class around the streets of Monte Carlo. During the race Senna lost grip on the steering wheel while driving to the absolute limit, despite holding a 46s lead over Prost, and subsequently crashed out of the grand prix.

However, it was during qualifying that Senna’s skills at Monaco were most stunning, described poetically in his own words…

"...the last qualifying session. I was already on pole, then by half a second and then one second and I just kept going. Suddenly I was nearly two seconds faster than anybody else, including my team-mate with the same car. And suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension. It was like I was in a tunnel. Not only the tunnel under the hotel but the whole circuit was a tunnel. I was just going and going, more and more and more and more. I was way over the limit but still able to find even more.

"Then suddenly something just kicked me. I kind of woke up and realised that I was in a different atmosphere than you normally are. My immediate reaction was to back off, slow down. I drove slowly back to the pits and I didn't want to go out any more that day. It frightened me because I was well beyond my conscious understanding. It happens rarely but I keep these experiences very much alive inside me because it is something that is important for self-preservation."

Painted in 1999.