The Monaco Grand Prix proved to be the perfect remedy to vanish the memories from one of Formula One's darkest weekends, with an exciting race that saw the first non-Schumacher winner of the season. Richard Barnes reviews the weekend's events on a circuit that, as usual, separated the men from the boys

After the aberration that passed for the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks ago, Sunday's 2002 Monaco Grand Prix represented a welcome return to normality for the troubled F1 circus. The rumoured anti-Ferrari protests petered out after Thursday's free practice session, and the sport drew a collective and relieved sigh of 'At last we can get back to racing.'

Never mind that this was Monaco, a circuit singularly unsuited to the physics of modern Formula One racing. For, despite its predictably processional nature, the Monaco GP is immediately and invariably compelling - perhaps more so than any other circuit on the calendar.

It's not just the overt display of opulence along the harbour nor the glitterati rubbing shoulders with the fans, for wealth and fame are constant companions for Grand Prix racing. It's not the nature of street circuits, for many others have been tested and discarded over the years. It's not even Monaco's reputation as a 'driver's circuit'. For while Monaco does separate the men from the boys, that distinction is not made on driving talent alone. Among the long and distinguished list of past winners, there are obvious discrepancies - Jim Clark's absence being the most notable.

It's not even down to driving style, raw courage or weather preferences. Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, with their vastly different driving styles, aggression levels and wet weather abilities, dominated the event for an entire decade. Perhaps the defining factor of Monaco success is the driver's single-minded ability to induce tunnel vision - being able to concentrate solely on a narrow strip of Armco-ringed tarmac for two hours, while showing the patience to ride out whatever slings and arrows the capricious weather and traffic patterns may produce.

Whatever the secret ingredient is, Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard have it in abundance. It was fitting that Monaco should once again come down to a straight fight between the two drivers who know and love it best. Although, for at least the first half of the race, the Williams pair of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher gave us a tantalising glimpse of what the 2002 season should have been right from the start - an all-out scrap between the three giants of modern F1.

There was never a chance of a successful passing attempt while the first four were running almost nose to tail. Even Juan Pablo Montoya's aggression and optimism has its limits. Nevertheless, it was a thrilling battle, with the constant risk of contact between the leading trio. In that sense, Montoya had the best seat in the house. If any driver is going to be the meat in a three-car sandwich, he'd want Michael Schumacher behind him and, in the absence of Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard in front of him. Ultimately, the experience of his rivals was unnecessary for Montoya. The Colombian continues to mature with surprising ease and speed, and this year's performance was in stark contrast to his Monaco F1 debut a year ago.

For his part, Ralf Schumacher did what he does best - lock onto his brother's exhaust like a heat-seeking missile and then wait for something to happen. As ever, nothing did happen, and Ralf's reticence to take on Michael wheel to wheel remains the Williams challenger's biggest concern. Flawless reliability, patience and points accumulation is a great Championship strategy, but not if you're constantly finishing one place behind the Championship leader.

If Austria's hero Rubens Barrichello had arrived in Monaco hoping to extend his form and snatch an unlikely victory, he should have known better. Even without the spectre of Ferrari team orders, Monaco has not been kind to non-Europeans of late. In the last two decades, Ayrton Senna was the only non-European to win in Monaco. It's a feat that not even Barrichello's multiple WDC-winning compatriots, Emerson Fittipaldi and Nelson Piquet, managed to emulate.

The Principality represents something of a last outpost of European exclusivity in an increasingly international sport. The Monaco circuit looks after its own, and this year was no exception. Barrichello's below-par qualifying and start, followed by his accident with Raikkonen and ensuing pitlane speeding penalty, was just the leading example. Montoya retired for the first time this year, Jacques Villeneuve again suffered a dismal race, and the narrow confines of the circuit were always going to prove too much for the likes of Takuma Sato, Felipe Massa and Alex Yoong. At least the latter two showed rare comic timing - Yoong for sticking it in the barriers on the first corner of his first qualifying run, and Massa for collecting Enrique Bernoldi mere seconds after ITV commentator Martin Brundle had wryly predicted 'this one's going to end in tears.'

Despite Barrichello's woes, Ferrari emerged from the weekend all smiles. The team has become so obsessed with winning that it's unthinkable to consider them celebrating anything other than victory. Yet a dominant 1-2 would have been disastrous for Ferrari at Monaco, and would probably have re-ignited the ill-feeling following Austria. The eventual second and seventh places only served to vindicate Jean Todt's decision to run team orders in Austria.

The result provided another illustration of Michael Schumacher's almost supernatural ability to emerge from PR crises without a scratch. Even without a Senna-equalling sixth Monaco win, Schumacher still had ample reason to celebrate. He'd only given away four points to non-contender David Coulthard, while opening up another six points over non-finisher and main Championship rival Montoya. Schumacher's relief and satisfaction were palpable in his effusive praise of Coulthard, a rival whom he's treated with regal disdain in the recent past.

For Coulthard, the win couldn't have come at a better time. McLaren rookie Kimi Raikkonen had given the Scot a torrid time all season. This win, possibly the finest of his career, will re-establish Coulthard as the McLaren team leader, albeit in a non-competitive season. If the McLaren victory had given any fans false hopes of a closely contested second half of the season, both team chief Ron Dennis and technical director Adrian Newey were quick to quash them. At Canada in two weeks time, the BMW and Ferrari horsepower advantage will again become evident.

With Schumacher holding a 33-point lead less than halfway through the season, the Championship seems settled already. But the Ferraris are beatable in Canada, and two of the following four Grands Prix are at Schumacher's least successful circuits, Silverstone and Hockenheim. In a scrupulously fair world, there would still be an inkling of hope for Schumacher's rivals. Unfortunately, it's almost certain that Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, the only two realistic challengers for the title, will take points off each other race by race. By the time McLaren's next winning opportunity arrives via Hungary, the Drivers' Championship could already be settled.