Glamour and wealth make for an intoxicating combination

Glitz and Glamour. There, I've got them out of the way, the two most overused words when discussing the Monaco Grand Prix. It's not as if they're inaccurate terms, but you do wish people would consult a thesaurus once in a while.

You may have surmised from my minor outburst that the next stop for the F1 bandwagon is Monte Carlo. The luxury yachts will have already moored in the harbour and the famous old course will be taking shape.

The race in the principality really is one of the highlights of the race calendar. This may have something to do with the amount of Formula One people who live there, such as David Coulthard. It also chimes with something at the heart of F1 - money, and lots of it. I guess the event and the place need each other.

The marketing people certainly love it. Remember the Red Bull pit crew dressed as Star Wars storm troopers recently, or the diamond in the nose of the Jaguar cars? By the way, watch out for a Superman theme this year (there's a new film out).

There certainly is something about street circuits that makes the pulse quicken. Possibly it's the very unsuitability of the proposition, with the spectators closer to the action and the drivers closer to the barriers than you'd get at a racetrack.

Despite being a favourite of many, Monaco makes life a little awkward for teams. Admittedly there are new pits, which are a vast improvement on their cramped predecessors. But a narrow street circuit throws existing norms out of the window.

Qualifying becomes of paramount importance because overtaking (unless there's a blue flag waving madly) is nigh on impossible. You need to be at the front of the grid and get a good start. It's going to be a lot more difficult this year without the aid of one-shot qualifying. You really want to avoid being on the track at the same time as a Super Aguri.