Now that Lewis Hamilton has rebuffed Ferrari’s interest, he must hope the upgrades coming to his Mercedes in Monaco repay his faith. Monaco’s track is not best suited to gathering feedback from the changes. But where Hamilton is surely right is in knowing that Ferrari, about on a par with Mercedes at the moment, hardly offer an undiluted guarantee of improvement. What are the chances of Ferrari turning around their fortunes faster than Mercedes? Formula One’s American owners Liberty Media don’t much care for Monaco’s estimation of itself. Liberty’s take on the principality is from Bernie Ecclestone’s. He saw Monaco, along with Ferrari, as the jewels in his crown. One was for a race through the Olympic stadium, others for the centre of town.

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