Formula One: Why Lewis Hamilton Will Cement His Name among the Greats in Monaco

It's been said that only the greats win at Monaco. I have to say history suggests that this is the case. With names such as, Fangio, Moss, Stewart, Lauda, Gilles Villeneuve, Prost, Senna, Schumacher, Raikkonen and Alonso all gracing the list of previous winners.

There is something beautifully raw about a Monaco Grand Prix.

It is a fact that there is no margin for error and the importance of crafty tactics being well-executed is undeniable. These factors seem to mean that brilliant drivers excel, and have done so since the first race in 1948. Even the races where people may claim that the driver got a lucky win, he was there at the end wasn't he?

The others weren't.

Well is that really correct?

Naming a couple of examples to the contrary, we come up with Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell and on a slightly different note, Lewis Hamilton.

The first two have things in common, they both never won at the principality and they are both considered to be in the top 20 drivers of all time.

Mansell only managed two second-places and Clark never even got on the podium there. I'm not sure I can explain why it is that these drivers never managed to snatch that elusive victory, but maybe it was that they lacked the nerve that is required to take a Formula One car to the edge and around a street circuit like Monaco.

The nerve that is, in my opinion, vital to being considered a fantastic driver.

Despite their reputations for being courageous, brave and never saying die, maybe when it came down to it, "it" wasn't quite there. However, it would seem that they might have deserved to win there.

Maybe that's the beauty of Monaco—deserving it isn't enough.

However, the driver of the three who has the credentials is Lewis Hamilton. Having never lost a race in Monaco pre-F1, it was only the cruel team orders at Mclaren that lost him the race in 2007. He had Alonso on toast around the street circuit because he has the burning desire of a driver who understands the thrill of Monaco and what winning there represents.

There is this almost childlike ambition of wanting to win at Monaco, purely to be put amongst "the names". This is the reason why Lewis will win in a fortnight's time --he deserves it.