Why Hill will always be Mr Monaco

This month marks 60 years since Graham Hill took his and BRM’s first Formula 1 win at the circuit with which he would become synonymous: Monaco.

Paul Fearnley’s March 2002 archive piece examines the double world champion’s relationship with the principality, beginning at the end – Hill’s painful DNQ at Monaco in ’75. However, Ian Flux, then a junior mechanic for Mr Monaco’s F1 team, explains to the writer how disappointment was assuaged by adulation for the 14-time GP winner.

“I only realised the next day what a big deal it was,” he says. “When we walked towards Sainte Devote, he was all smiles and the crowd’s reaction was incredible. It was then that it dawned on me what Monaco meant to him, and what he meant to Monaco.”

Fearnley further demonstrates how symbiotic the link was. “The connections are freakish: first grand prix, last grand prix, five wins, overhauling Fangio’s record points haul (1970), his 150th GP start (’73) — all occurred at Monaco. But the relationship was more than simply statistics. He was the life and soul of motor racing’s biggest party. That 1975 Monaco walk was made easier by the warmth of the reception. Monaco and its favourite son had bade farewell.”

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