As we sail into St Tropez today to the scene of mega-yachts and speedboats circling our ship, a Cannes Film Festival/Monaco Grand Prix hubbub of excitement, there’s a niggle in the back on my mind of what the here-and-now is like in the world of Formula One on the lead-up to the most prestigious date in their calendar, the Monaco Grand Prix… and I’m  going to be there to witness the exuberance and atmosphere as the main players in the championship table compete for dominance in the most crucial part of the game.

Monaco is not just famous for Grace Kelly, tax exiles and casinos.  Since 1929, its winding, hilly streets have played host to the Grand Prix – in fact, it’s the only remaining street course in the F1 calendar… the most glamorous of them all.

Because of its proximity to Italy, there is one colour that dominates the landscape of Monaco during the Grand Prix weekend… red, the colour of the Ferrari team.  If you arrive on the Friday evening of the race weekend, the streets are teeming with vendors selling flags, shirts and souvenirs and by the time the race starts on the Sunday afternoon, every inch of space will be drowned in red.  Saturday is the day of the qualifiers and practice sessions.  Helicopters and speedboats litter the sky and waters, which all seem very glamorous, but the reality is, these methods of transport are not just accessories to co-ordinate with the St Tropez tan and gold jewellery, they are essential if you are going to get anywhere.  By 8:30am, the traffic along the coast road from Nice is at a standstill and, because the circuit winds through the heart of the town, most roads are cut off.

So if this is the essential transport, what are the essential accessories?  Deck-shoes and earplugs.  Deck shoes because you’ll be doing a lot of walking and, as any self-respecting ‘it’ girl knows, when it comes to boats, striding onto a yacht in a pair of Jimmy Choos is like taking your granny to a rave… not de rigueur!

The green room of motorsport is the paddock, where all the teams set up base for the weekend, a circus of motor homes, each emblazoned with their team’s livery, environment where the most high-tech hospitality is served throughout the weekend.  This is the place where the drivers relax, the press mingle with the teams and where celebrities roam.  But the pits are where all things turn serious.  Small, cramped areas filled with tyres, trolleys of surgical tools and computers, teams of men bent over the cars, tweaking and tuning.

Monaco isn’t a comfortable ride.  Hills and narrow bends, one of the toughest courses on the F1 calendar, a dangerous course and conditions in the vehicle get very heated, both physically and mentally.  F1 isn’t just about being a good driver, the relationship they have with the car is very important.   F1 is a consuming way of life, travelling a great deal and being focused is the key.

After qualifying the vehicles are moved to the team garages to be checked… but these are no ordinary garages, more like space-age operating theatres with not one oily mechanic in sight, just people working silently on the cars or on the computers.  Technicians already know what is wrong with the car before they lay hands on it, data is constantly being relayed from the car to the garage.  As each car enters the pit lane, it is swiped for information – a sophisticated version of a supermarket checkout.

Nightlife in Monaco, pre-race, is powerful.  The place to be is the Café de Paris in the main square where boys in sports cars are doing their own laps of honour.  To ‘qualify’ for this Grand Prix, you’ll need a Ferrari, Porsche or Mercedes, open-topped and filled with girls in very small clothes.  The square heaves, drink flows and the people are… beautiful.  Kylie frequents the Casino and the Euro beat at Jimmy’s begins to thud.

Every balcony, hill and rooftop swarms with spectators.  As the engines fire, the flag is waved and the cars start to scream around the circuit, the noise is overwhelming; the cars blast past and there are no more than flashes of colour before your eyes.  This is Monaco dominating the F1 calendar.

I caught up with ex-F1 racing driver Mark Blundell who notably won  the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans.  With a vast background in motor sport, both as a professional driver and presenter, his thoughts were valuable and extremely valid to gain an insight into the world of Formula One.

I’ll be reporting on the race next week, with the results, behind-the-scenes and race images, along with an exclusive interview with ex-F1 driver, Mark Blundell.