Ayrton Senna bettered Graham Hil's record, taking six wins around the streets of Monte Carlo.
The 1984 Monaco Grand Prix is best remembered for the remarkable drives of two youngsters in heavy rain. Ayrton Senna was in his first season of Formula 1 with the small Toleman team. Starting from 13th on the grid he worked his way up to second and was in the process of passing Alain Prost’s leading McLaren when the race was red-flagged due to the deteriorating conditions. Behind Senna in third place was the young German driver Stefan Bellof, who had started from 20th in his Tyrrell.
Prost won at Monaco again in 1985 and 1986. The latter race also saw the final Grand Prix appearance of the popular Italian driver Elio De Angelis. He was fatally injured in a testing accident at Paul Ricard a few days later.
Senna scored his first Monaco win in 1987, driving an active-suspension Lotus. The great Brazilian would go on to beat Graham Hill’s record of five wins in the principality. Senna should have won again in 1988 but an uncharacteristic mistake late in the race, while holding a huge lead over Prost, led to his retirement. Senna was so upset that he did not bother returning to his McLaren garage and walked to his Monaco apartment instead. Prost, meanwhile, took a fortunate victory.
Beginning with victory in 1989 Senna went on a run of five consecutive Monaco Grand Prix wins. Stefano Modena, driving for Brabham, enjoyed his first trip to a Formula 1 podium with a third place finish. It would prove to be Brabham’s final podium appearance as the once great team struggled. 1992 would be their final Formula 1 season.
The star of the 1990 race was Jean Alesi who finished second just behind Senna. Modena again proved his ability on the Monaco circuit in 1991, lining up second on the grid. In 1992 Senna was made to fight hard for his win, defending desperately from Nigel Mansell’s Williams in the closing laps. The last of Senna’s six Monaco victories came in 1993. By the time of the 1994 race the Brazilian had been killed at Imola.
The Formula 1 paddock was still in shock at the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix. During the preceding San Marino Grand Prix weekend both Roland Ratzenberger and Senna had lost their lives in accidents. The mood was further dampened by a serious accident on Saturday at Monaco which befell Karl Wendlinger on the approach to the harbour front chicane. Fortunately, despite being in a coma, Wendlinger eventually recovered. The race itself was won by Michael Schumacher in a Benetton.
The 1995 race had to be restarted after a first corner accident. Schumacher won comfortably from Damon Hill, although the fastest lap went to Alesi in a Ferrari. Taki Inoue was involved in a bizarre accident during practice. While his Footwork was being towed back to the pits after stopping on the circuit the tow vehicle managed to flip the Formula 1 car upside down, with Inoue still inside.
