far2000

Facts and figures for Sunday's Monaco F1 Grand Prix:
Venue: Monte Carlo.
Race distance: 78 laps (total distance 260.520 km). Each lap is 3.340 km/2.075 miles.
GMT start time: 1200
Race lap record: Michael Schumacher (Germany) one minute 14.439 seconds (average speed 161.528 km/h). Ferrari, 2004.
2006 pole position: Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:13.962.
Resume of last five races in Monaco:
2006: Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault
Alonso went 21 points clear of Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, who provided the main talking point with his antics in qualifying. The German was branded a cheat by some and dismissed from pole position to last for deliberately obstructing rivals. He still came fifth. There was no champagne sprayed on the podium as a mark of respect to tyre boss Edouard Michelin, who drowned in a sailing accident on the Friday before the race.

2005:</B> Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren
Raikkonen's second win in a row, and second from pole position, lifted him to second in the championship. Alonso limped home fourth with his tyres almost gone. Nick Heidfeld was a career best second for Williams.
2004:Jarno Trulli (Italy), Renault
Trulli's first Grand Prix win, from pole position, ending Ferrari's run of eight in a row and Schumacher's hopes of a sixth in succession. Schumacher retired after colliding with Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams in the tunnel behind the safety car. Button was second for BAR.
2003: Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Williams
Ralf Schumacher started on pole but team mate Montoya got ahead of him after the first pitstops and went on to give Williams their first Monaco win for 20 years.
2002: David Coulthard (Britain), McLaren
Coulthard gave McLaren their only victory of 2002, holding off Schumacher's faster Ferrari.
The circuit
Qualifying is crucial as overtaking is rare.
The world's most famous street circuit offers no margin for error and the crash barriers are unforgiving.
Overall speeds are relatively low, with the maximum of about 290 km/h through the tunnel section, and the track is tight and twisty. In the old days, drivers would end up with blistered hands after making about 50 gear changes a lap. "It's like trying to ride a bicycle around your living room," Brazilian triple champion Nelson Piquet once said.



hope we have an awesome race