Mirabeau Haute, the Loews hairpin and Mirabeau Bas. It's one of the most iconic ribbons of tarmac in motor sport and the series of corners least suited to a Formula One car on the calendar. Unlike other sections of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit that have been widened, flattened and re-profiled, this part of the track is quite literally set in stone between walls and apartment blocks as it threads its way down a hill towards the crystal blue waves of the Mediterranean.
When the grand prix is not taking place this twisting street acts as the entrance to the Fairmont Hotel, with mopeds, Lamborghinis and the No. 6 bus vying for space as they negotiate the tight hairpin. A thin red-brick path lines the road and offers access to a bus stop where old ladies and their chihuahuas wait patiently for their lift to the beachside cafes of Larvotto further along Monaco's exclusive coastline.
During a race weekend it's quite a different scene. The red-brick path is still accessible for those with the right passes, but it is lined with TV cameras wires and protected by a waist-high Armco barrier. For photographers it's paradise and at the start of FP2 on Thursday, veteran F1 snapper Rainer Schlegelmilch has taken up prime position hanging out over the barriers on the exit of Mirabeau Haute. It's about as close as it is possible to get to an F1 car in motion, and although the speeds are relatively low, the ferociousness of the acceleration and direction change is breathtaking. The cars almost pass directly underneath Schlegelmilch's lens as they get within inches of the barrier before moving to the right of the track for the entrance to famous Loews hairpin.
At this point the cars look cumbersome as they negotiate the slowest and tightest corner on the F1 calendar. Extra steering lock is needed for Monaco and applied liberally at the entrance to the corner. The cars are not used to such demands, and with low track temperatures under cloudy skies the front tyres refuse to bite initially. But the drivers are aware of this and the steering lock is applied early and with force to tease the adhesion from the Pirellis. When they grip up, it's like the nose of the car has been yanked by an invisible wire that drags the car to the left and through 180 degrees. For a few drivers this manoeuvre proves more difficult than for others and the likes of Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen use the throttle to swing the rear of the car into an arcing power slide on the exit.
The power is only applied briefly, however, before a lift ahead of Mirabeau Bas where the Armco on the driver's right suddenly ends and exposes the little red-brick path again. Different drivers attack this corner in different ways, but take too much kerb, as Sergio Perez did on Friday afternoon, and the car is spat out to the right. In dry conditions, as they were at the start of FP2, Perez was able to gather the car together and continue down to Portier, but in 1996 a similar error in the wet saw Michael Schumacher's race end against the outside barrier. Another squirt of throttle sees the cars arrive at Portier before they disappear from view on the approach to the tunnel and the longest period of acceleration on the track.
For seeing these remarkable machines up close, nowhere can match Monaco.