Formula One analyst Steve Slater compares the fortunes of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Force India's Adrian Sutil.

With more changes of fortune than the roulette wheel in the Grand Casino, the stories of two drivers, more than any other demonstrate the vagaries of the 66th running of the Monaco Grand Prix.

There was precious little difference in the pace or commitment of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Force India's Adrian Sutil. However one rode his luck to victory, as the other was forced to wonder ‘what might have been'.

Lewis Hamilton's race should by rights have been over on the sixth lap. Lewis had made a brilliant start to dive down the inside of Kimi Raikkonen and tuck into second place behind the leading Ferrari of Felipe Massa. Then the treacherous conditions got the better of the McLaren driver and he kissed the barrier at Tabac corner, bursting his rear tyre. But if ever an accident can be said to be a lucky one, this was it.

Firstly, the accident happened just three corners from the end of the pitlane, so Lewis lost the minimum of time getting back to the pits. Then, just as he made his pit stop, an accident brought out yellow flags, slowing the field, but Lewis left the pits just before the safety car was scrambled, otherwise he'd have been held in the pitlane. Such was the lucky break in his timing, he merely dropped to fourth place.

The accident that precipitated it (to forgive the pun) was classic Monaco. David Coulthard's Red Bull, which had proved skittish in the dry, was almost uncontrollable in the wet.

On the run up the hill to Casino Square it simply got more and more sideways, until DC ran out of ideas, opposite lock - and road. He hit the barriers and ground to a halt in what is usually the cab rank outside the Casino.

Behind him, Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso lifted off the gas and instantly also lost control. He too cannoned into the barriers and into the back of the Red Bull. Typical isn't it? You can wait all day at a cab rank, then you get two at once!

When racing resumed on lap 11, Hamilton's fourth place became third when the stewards imposed a drive-through penalty on Kimi Raikkonen. Apparently the Ferrari mechanics had hit trouble fitting one of the Finn's wheels on the grid and had only completed the job within three minutes of the start.

Things got worse for Ferrari when Massa slid up the escape road at Ste Devote on the 16th lap. He slithered back onto the track in second place as BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica snatched the lead. From a 1-2 at the start, Ferrari were now second and fourth.

Hamilton's enforced pit strategy now worked even more in his favour. That, and some stunningly fast laps on the now drying track saw him in the perfect position to take the advantage of the improving conditions. He did not have to refuel until the 54th lap and as his rivals stopped, the McLaren driver moved back into a 37.6 second that allowed him to make his second stop, refuel, switch to Bridgestone's soft grooved tyres, and still keep the lead.

The race wasn't over yet. Nico Rosberg, who had since Thursday practice been easily the most spectacular driver on the track, rode his luck a step too far. On the 61st lap, the Williams driver who had already stopped for two new nosecones after hitting all and sundry, finally wiped his car into oblivion on the barriers at the Swimming Pool complex. It was, as my co-commentator, Tyrrell and Lotus F1 racer Julian Bailey described it, "a proper accident".

It sadly too, marked the end of the ‘drive of the race' for a driver of whom I've been critical in the past, but I'll freely admit to eating my words based on his Monaco performance. I don't know what Force India put into Adrian Sutil's water, but I think we'd all like some, based on his performance this weekend!

From 18th on the starting grid, Adrian overtook no less than seven cars in the opening laps (this is Monaco remember!) then in the changing track conditions steadily made his way up the order to an eventual fourth place. It was quite simply a brilliant drive.

The Force India car even lapped Heikki Kovalainen in his McLaren and looked good to hold the fourth place ahead of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari. Then on the restart after the Rosberg safety car period, it was the reigning World Champion who lost control, hitting the back of Sutil's car and forcing the young German driver into retirement with just five laps remaining.

The result sheets will show Hamilton the hero, Sutil with zero. But that is not even half the story of the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix. I doubt that for a disconsolate Adrian Sutil it will be of much interest, but his not Hamilton's, was my drive of the day.