"Coming over the start line in top gear doing 270kph, you arrive at the braking area for Sainte Devote and the track suddenly narrows. This means that at the start of the race, the whole field gets funnelled into the corner. It often means that there are accidents, but that's more of an incentive to start at the front. Carrying through as much speed and momentum as possible through St. Devote, you exit in second gear and blast up the hill. The hill is much steeper than it looks on television, but by the time it levels out, you are doing about 250kph in top gear before you select fourth and turn around the tricky left-handed Beau Rivage at over 200kph, which takes you into Casino Square. In the wet, you really have to be careful here, because it's a bit off camber and the track falls away from you. The barrier comes out a bit on the left as you leave -another thing to watch out for!"

"Coming into Casino Square, the car gets a bit light as you turn right in third gear down the hill, and there's a huge bump which sucks the car down and really unsettles you as you prepare to brake from 210kph for Mirabeau, the second gear right-hand hairpin. Onto the Grand Hotel hairpin; it is a lot harder than it looks because you are braking downhill and if you brake too late, you are in real trouble. First gear and maximum lock to the left is needed. "With traction control, accelerating out of the hairpin will be easier, but the next two corners at Portier are tricky. With the tunnel coming up - one of the only real overtaking opportunities of the lap, you want to carry good speed through these turns. This double right leads into the cool, dark but very noisy tunnel. There is a kink in the tunnel to the right, but that is flat. Out into the sunlight once again and you approach the Nouvelle Chicane in top gear at around 290 kph. Again the braking has to be spot on to slow to 80kph and second gear in about 80 metres."