He is the F1 champion who won the Monaco Grand Prix five times and remains the only driver to hold motorsport’s most impressive title

The Monaco Grand Prix is one of motorsport’s most highly regarded races, with it being the blue-riband event on the Formula 1 calendar.

Situated in the French Riviera is the Monaco Principality, a sovereign nation that even boasts its own royal family.

The Monaco Grand Prix has run since 1929 and was originally put on as a response to the forerunner of the FIA refusing the Automobile Club de Monaco unless it held an event on Monegasque soil.

While there was the Monte Carlo Rally, it wasn’t seen as substantial enough, so race founder Antony Noghes came up with a layout using the tight streets of the principality.

The race was reborn after World War II in a bid to transform Monaco’s economy and its image after a string of royal scandals and reputation for being a tax haven.

From there, it became one of the most famous races on the calendar, seeing some of F1’s greats win on its streets. But there was one driver who became the master of the principality throughout the swinging sixties.

How Graham Hill earned the nickname ‘Mr Monaco’

It’s been 62 years since Graham Hill took the first of his record five victories, earning him the title ‘Mr Monaco’ due to his impressive record and gentlemanly personality.

Hill won his first Monaco GP in 1963 after a thrilling battle with Jim Clark throughout the first half of the race, which was then 100 laps. He also exchanged places with Richie Ginther, which enabled Clark to overtake and race into the lead.

However, Clark would suffer a gearbox failure, which enabled Hill to regain the lead and take his first win. He crossed the line five seconds clear of Ginther, with Bruce McLaren and John Surtees 10 seconds further back.

Graham Hill switches to Lotus and achieves Monaco record

Hill would later win in 1964 and again in 1965 because his main rival, Clark, went stateside to compete in the Indy 500 that year. The 1968 season was a bitter affair for Hill, as he and his team Lotus were left mourning the deaths of Clark and Mike Spence.

Lotus introduced the 49B and Hill used it to great effect, taking a dominant pole position with a lap that was more than half a second quicker than Johnny Servoz-Gavin. Despite losing out to Servoz-Gavin at the start, Hill regained the lead when the Matra driver suffered a driveshaft failure.

The 1969 Monaco Grand Prix was Hill’s 14th and last victory in F1. Despite Jackie Stewart and Ferrari’s Chris Amon leading, technical problems promoted Hill to the lead to take a comfortable victory over Piers Courage.

Graham Hill is the only driver to win Motorsport’s triple crown

Along with his Monaco GP wins, Hill is also the only driver to have achieved the unofficial triple crown of motorsport, having also won the Indy 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

He won the Indy 500 in 1966 on his debut at the race, making him the first rookie winner in 26 years, and would later achieve victory at Le Mans in 1972.

Hill would go on to race into his 40s and made five more appearances at the Monaco Grand Prix, including a failed attempt to qualify in 1975.

Sadly, a few months after that race, he would lose his life in an airplane crash while travelling back to the UK from a test session at Paul Ricard.

Hill’s Monaco Grand Prix record would stand until the early 1990s, when it was equalled by Ayrton Senna in 1992 and then surpassed in 1993.

He would later join the exclusive list of drivers whose sons also went on to win F1 world championships, when Damon Hill was crowned in 1996. Only Keke Rosberg and Nico Rosberg are the other two drivers on the list, after the latter won the world championship in 2016.