Circuit de Monaco

There is nowhere else like Monaco. The circuit threads through the streets of Monte Carlo, barriers within inches of the wheels the whole way round, past Casino Square, down the hill to the harbour, through the tunnel and around the Swimming Pool. It is the slowest lap of the year and by some distance the most demanding, a place where the hairpin is taken barely faster than walking pace and the smallest error ends against a wall.

Because overtaking here borders on impossible, a single qualifying lap can define a whole weekend, and a brave one can hide a car's weaknesses entirely. That combination of jeopardy and precision, run against a backdrop of harbour yachts and steep apartment terraces, is why a lap of Monaco has been one of motorsport's great tests for the best part of a century.