EXCLUSIVE TACH COVERAGE

Monaco Grand Prix: Schumcher in a class of his own.

Andrew Frankl
European Bureau Chief - reporting from the scene.

It must have been embarrassing for 21 other drivers to realise a few laps into the 55th Grand Prix that they went to a different driving school from one Michael Schumacher. Well, what other explanation can there be for the German driver's 10 second lead at the end of lap 2?

The others? Well, the less said the better.

We had the spectacle of Gilles Villeneuve doing the impersonation of an old lady-with no disrespect to old `ladies I hasten to add. Or Heinz Harald Frentzen who drove like a champion two weeks ago and crashed out like a beginner. Poor Damon Hill, last year' s champion has yet to finish a race this year. This time he dropped out virtually before the race started.

Not that the McLaren drivers fared any better. Coulthard lost it in the biggest possible way only to be collected by several drivers including his team-mate. A far cry from the Halcyon days of Senna and Prost.

Instead we had lots of new faces . Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher, Barrichello, Magnussen and of course last year's hero Olivier Panis. He drove his heart out but could not catch the flying Ferraris or for that matter the new Brazilian hero - Rubens Barrichello. He drove brilliantly in the pouring rain and was rewarded with an excellent second place, the first finish by the new team. What a place to do it in! 500 million TV spectators, all the sponsors, a dream for triple champion Jackie Stewart. It is cruel irony of fate that Damon Hill accepted another offer for this season, one from Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw. Great shame,as Jackie and his father Graham were friends and rivals. The rest were just a bunch of strugglers really. Gerhard Berger ,veteran of 201 races was a pale shadow of himself as was Jean Alesi.

I cannot help feeling that their stars are definitely on the wane. The Tyrrell team -not often mentioned in dispatches - did well for once, the slippery track having been relatively kind to their underpowered cars. Mika Salo managed to get the first points for the team this year, something that is very important indeed for team boss Ken Tyrrell.

Even Jos Verstappen -better known for crashing than finishing- managed to get to the end in 8th place.

There was one heart stopping moment for the Ferrari team -Schumacher lost concenration for a moment and went on at the end of the finishing straight which actually is anything but straight. Luckily for him there was a run-off area and he managed to get going again.

Apart from that it was one of the great drives of all times.

If it were to rain for the next 12 races the other could pack up and go home now. Today, for the 55th Monaco Grand Prix the double world champion was in a class of his own. As this is an unlikely scenario maybe we can look forward to some meaningful battles between him, the Williams drivers and the new tigers of Formula One-Fisichella and Schumacher Junior.