MR MONACO: How Graham Hill dominated the streets of Monte Carlo

A year later, Hill had another shot at glory, going wheel-to-wheel with pole-sitter Jim Clark’s Lotus in a thrilling battle for the first third of the race. Switching places on several occasions, with Richie Ginther’s other BRM also involved, there was initially nothing to separate the leaders as they made their way through the twisting and challenging streets of Monte Carlo.

Clark then stretched out the Lotus’ legs to allow a breather between his car and Hill’s, and the skirmish seemed to settle in his favor as the race entered its second half. That was until a gearbox failure stopped him dead in his tracks and opened the door for Hill, who duly regained a lead he would not relinquish.

Crossing the line almost five seconds ahead of Ginther, with McLaren and John Surtees a further 10 seconds behind, reigning world champion Hill could now add the ‘King of Monaco’ title to his growing collection, setting a new speed record. average for the boot race.

1964 – Redoubling in the Principality

It was a similar story on F1’s subsequent visit to Monaco early in the 1964 season, with Clark taking pole position and putting in another impressive display, only for additional technical problems, this time involving suspension and engine, which they botched their efforts again.

While Clark took a commanding lead early in the race, keeping pace even as his rear anti-roll bar came loose, Hill was up against Jack Brabham and Dan Gurney for the ‘best of the rest’ spot. But when Brabham lost power and Clark pitted for a temporary suspension, Gurney and Hill found themselves occupying the top two positions.

From there, Gurney, Hill and a recovering Clark raced head-to-head in a fight for the lead, with Hill, having put the pressure on for some time, finally making a move on Gurney just after halfway. . Any hope Gurney had of fighting back was ended by gearbox failure, before Clark wrestled with engine problems of his own.

That left a clear path to the finish for Hill, whose pace was relentless in the open air, underscored by the fact that he lapped the rest of the field at least once. Ginther followed him home to turn it into a BRM one-two, with Peter Arundell’s Lotus drifting three laps.

1965 – Making it a hat-trick of wins

After his technical problems in 1963 and 1964, Clark did not make the Monaco Grand Prix finalist list for another reason at the 1965 event, when he headed to the United States to meet and win the Indianapolis 500. That meant a major contender was out. out of the way, presenting Hill with a golden opportunity…

The weekend started perfectly for the BRM starter, who took his first pole position in Monaco by handily beating Brabham and new teammate Jackie Stewart during qualifying, before maintaining his lead at the start and controlling the early exchanges. .

However, the drama would affect both BRM drivers for around a third of the race: Hill took an escape route when he approached the slow Bob Anderson out of the tunnel (forcing him to push his car back onto the track). , and Stewart taking a drive soon after. That meant Stewart and Hill were fourth and fifth respectively when they resumed.

Enthused, Hill embarked on a comeback run that was initially helped by the retirement of leader Brabham amid engine trouble and younger teammate Stewart pulling over. Then came an intense fight with Ferrari pairing John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini, which Hill won brilliantly before charging over a minute into the distance.

1968 – Hitting play after a brief hiatus

After three consecutive victories in Monaco, which put him on his way to earning the nickname ‘Mr Monaco’, Hill’s run came to an end when he finished third in the lap during his final season with BRM in 1966, and then second. upon his return to Lotus (briefly powered by BRM) in 1967.

Lotus was mourning the recent death of Clark and Mike Spence when they arrived in Monaco for the 1968 edition of the Grand Prix, while Ferrari was absent and did not officially say why, although their aforementioned driver Bandini had also lost his life. after an accident in the race the previous year.

Nonetheless, Lotus went ahead with the unveiling of its new 49B, which Hill drove to a truly commanding pole position as the race weekend unfolded: a lap time over half a second faster than its nearest rivals. , Johnny Servoz-Gavin and Jo Siffert.

Hill lost to Servoz-Gavin early on, but regained the lead when the Matra driver suffered driveshaft failure and crashed. Thereafter Hill could not be stopped, despite the best efforts of his BRM replacement Richard Attwood, who finished a couple of seconds back. Only three other cars made it to the finish in a race of attrition, all several laps down.

1969 – Hill raises his tally to five

Having finished runner-up in the 1963, ’64 and ’65 championships, an elusive second world title evaded Hill until 1968, when his return to Lotus paid off. Little did he know at the time that 1969, and more specifically that year’s Monaco Grand Prix, would bring his 14th and final F1 victory.

Former teammate Stewart (now of Matra) and Ferrari’s Chris Amon led the way from the start, but technical problems for both handed P1 to Hill, who cleared to a comfortable win over Brabham’s Piers Courage and the Siffert’s Lotus directed by Rob Walker. – marking the first win for a rider wearing a full face helmet in the process.

Hill raced into his 40s and made five more Grand Prix starts at Monaco, along with one last failed attempt to qualify for his own namesake team in 1975, the year he would tragically lose his life in a plane crash while traveling back to the United Kingdom. from a test session at Paul Ricard.

Hill’s record for Monaco wins would stand until the early 1990s, when Ayrton Senna equaled it in 1992 and bettered it the following year. But the legendary British driver sits second on the all-time list, along with Michael Schumacher, to this day, having taken 35% of his Grand Prix victories on some of motorsport’s most famous streets. .

To find out more about the life and career of Graham Hill, head over to our dedicated Hall of Fame Profilecovering his upbringing, road to F1 and interests outside of the sport.