The Most Memorable Start to an F1 Qualifying Morning You'll Ever See
Most people attending the Monaco Grand Prix spend qualifying morning nursing an espresso on a terrace overlooking the harbor, watching superyachts bob gently in the Mediterranean sun. That's perfectly enjoyable, of course. But a small group of automotive enthusiasts found something considerably more memorable to do with those early hours — and it involved a rare McLaren-Mercedes SLR Roadster, a set of mountain hairpins, and a man with a decades-long reputation for going sideways in any car he touches.
The footage, captured by YouTuber Sam Fane of the Seen Through Glass channel, has quickly captured the attention of supercar fans around the world. And once you understand what was happening on those roads above Monaco, it's easy to see why.
A Small Convoy With One Very Big Star
The morning began with a convoy of serious performance machinery heading into the hills above the principality along the iconic Route de la Turbie — the winding mountain road that climbs sharply from Monaco toward the French and Italian hinterland. The group was impressive by any standard. It included a Porsche 992.2 Speedster, a Porsche 992.2 GT3, and a Jaguar, all of which would turn heads at any gathering of car enthusiasts on the planet.
But there was one car that kept drawing every eye in the group. Tucked into that convoy, its long silver hood glinting in the early morning light, was a McLaren-Mercedes SLR Roadster — one of the rarest and most distinctive supercars ever built. Behind its wheel sat a man introduced only as Raul: a French and Italian local personality, a former rally driver who competed during the 1980s and early 1990s, and someone described by those who know him as being genuinely famous for going sideways in whatever car he happens to be driving.
That reputation, it turns out, is entirely earned.
Burning Rubber by the Third Corner
The convoy had barely left Monaco and started climbing the Route de la Turbie before Raul made his intentions absolutely clear. By the third corner on the route up through the mountain switchbacks, Sam Fane could already smell burning rubber drifting back through the morning air. The SLR Roadster was already sideways. Not slightly out of shape, not gently nudging the limit — fully, deliberately, beautifully sideways through a tight mountain hairpin in a 626-horsepower grand tourer at seven in the morning.
What makes this so remarkable is the car itself. The McLaren-Mercedes SLR Roadster was not, by any conventional automotive logic, built for this kind of behavior.
What Makes the SLR Roadster Such an Unlikely Drift Tool
The McLaren-Mercedes SLR is a car that has always occupied a fascinating and slightly ambiguous place in the supercar world. Produced between 2003 and 2010 as a collaboration between McLaren Automotive and Mercedes-Benz, the SLR was designed to blend grand touring comfort with genuine supercar performance — a car you could theoretically drive from London to Monaco in complete luxury and then embarrass dedicated sports cars on the mountain roads above the principality.
On paper, nothing about the SLR Roadster screams "drift machine." Its front mid-engine layout, automatic gearbox, and overall driving character led many automotive journalists to classify it firmly as a grand tourer rather than a precision point-and-squirt sports car. The car is long, relatively heavy, and was conceived with effortless high-speed cruising very much in mind.
Beneath that dramatically long hood sits a hand-built 5.4-liter supercharged V8 engine producing 626 horsepower, sending all of that power to the rear wheels via a five-speed automatic transmission. Those numbers are genuinely serious — the SLR Roadster could sprint from zero to 62 mph in around 3.8 seconds and reach a top speed of 206 mph. But in the hands of a typical driver on a mountain hairpin, the combination of an automatic gearbox, significant weight, and front-heavy balance would make deliberate oversteer a challenging and somewhat anxiety-inducing proposition.
Raul, apparently, does not experience anxiety behind a steering wheel.
Why Monaco Is the Perfect Stage for This Kind of Madness
There are very few places on Earth where watching a rare supercar be driven at the absolute limit of its abilities on a public road before a Formula 1 qualifying session would feel appropriate. Monaco is one of them. The principality has a unique relationship with automotive excess that goes far beyond the Grand Prix itself. The streets, the hills, the harbor — every corner of Monaco is steeped in the history of fast cars and brave drivers.
The Route de la Turbie, specifically, is a road with genuine motorsport heritage. It was used as a timed stage in the early years of the legendary Monte Carlo Rally, and its tight hairpins and dramatic elevation changes have tested drivers and machines for over a century. To watch a supercar being driven with genuine commitment through those same corners, on the morning of an F1 qualifying session, is to feel the full weight of that history in a very immediate way.
The SLR Roadster in 2025: Still Impossible to Ignore
Part of what makes the video so compelling is the car itself, quite apart from the driving. The McLaren-Mercedes SLR Roadster remains one of the most visually striking automobiles ever produced. Its long hood, dramatic butterfly doors, side-exit exhaust pipes, and muscular rear haunches give it a presence that no modern supercar quite replicates.
Values for well-maintained examples have climbed steadily in recent years as collectors have recognized the SLR as a genuine artifact of a unique moment in automotive history — the brief but productive partnership between McLaren and Mercedes that also produced the legendary McLaren F1-era racing cars. A clean SLR Roadster today commands serious money at auction, and seeing one being driven with genuine abandon rather than being preserved under a cover is, for many enthusiasts, deeply satisfying.
- Production years: 2003–2010
- Engine: Hand-built 5.4-liter supercharged V8
- Power output: 626 horsepower
- 0–62 mph: approximately 3.8 seconds
- Top speed: 206 mph
- Transmission: Five-speed automatic
- Drive layout: Front mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
A Reminder of What Cars Are Actually For
In an era when many exotic cars spend their lives in climate-controlled garages accumulating value rather than miles, watching Raul throw an SLR Roadster sideways through Monaco's mountain hairpins at sunrise is a genuinely refreshing sight. It is a reminder that the greatest supercars were always meant to be driven — with commitment, with skill, and occasionally with a generous helping of opposite lock.
Sam Fane's footage captures something that most people attending even the Monaco Grand Prix will never get close to experiencing: the sound of a supercharged V8 bouncing off stone walls, the acrid smell of warm rubber in the morning air, and the sight of a man with forty years of sideways experience doing exactly what he was apparently born to do. Whether you're an F1 fan, a McLaren devotee, or simply someone who appreciates watching rare machinery being used to its full potential, this is one video worth your full attention.
The F1 cars would take over Monaco's streets later that same morning. But for one glorious hour in the hills above the harbor, a silver SLR Roadster and a former rally driver very nearly stole the whole weekend.