“Mr. Monaco” is a title attributed to only one man and his name is Graham Hill. The double world champion’s mastery of the tight and winding street circuit of the legendary principality would set a record of five wins, a tally that would only be beaten 24 years later by Ayrton Senna and matched by Michael Schumacher. Serendipitously, Monaco was the scene of Hill’s first Formula 1 start in 1958.

For the 1969 race, Hill drove one of Colin Chapman’s greatest creations, a Lotus 49 adorned in the iconic Gold Leaf colours, qualifying 4th despite breaking the lap record by over two seconds. Shortly after the Monegasque flag dropped, Hill passed Beltoise for third to chase Stewart and Amon, who both seemed to be in qualifying mode. Monaco was notorious for mechanical retirements due to 80 punishing laps of the circuit, with thousands of gearchanges a race, so almost in quick succession Amon’s Ferrari retired and both Matras of Stewart and Beltoise suffered driveshaft failures. Despite driving for a constructor known for fragility, Hill’s masterful drive saw him take the final Formula 1 World Championship race victory of his career. Remarkably, this was also the first race win with a full-face helmet.

It is believed that this is the first time a Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix 1st-place trophy has been offered publicly for sale. The coveted win rewrote the record books and defined the career of motorsport’s only Triple Crown winner.