Gentlemen, if you would please empty your pockets... Christian Klien in the wall and missing a precious diamond! Photo Jaguar Racing, Clive Rose/Getty Images

Jaguar makes the headlines at Monaco but for the wrong reasons... If you believe that any publicity is good publicity then it was mission accomplished for Jaguar at Monaco, otherwise it was just another bad week end...

Not only was the team actively promoting the upcoming movie Ocean's 12 with the presence of hollywood star George Clooney in the paddock but diamond giant Steinmetz was part of a one race sponsor deal. Somewhere along the way, someone got the brilliant idea to embed a big, flawless (and very expensive) diamond on the nose cone of one the R5s...

Now this might have worked on a normal track, but at a place like Monaco where 99% of the track is lined with guardrails... well you get the picture... and when rookie Christian Klien planted the his car in the tirewall on lap 1, the diamond disapeared and frantic searches near the accident site failed to retrieve the half million dollar rock..

But don't worry, it was insured and it's not going to cause a dent in the team budget or the driver salaries unlike all the damages caused to the cars over the week end. Two engine fires and number of crashes causing broken suspensions; and if you think an XKR shock is costly, it's nothing compared to carbon fiber F1 suspension componenents! Altogether, another week end to forget for the team with Mark Webber lasting longer than his teammate but having to retire within a few laps of his teamate his Ford Costworth engine / gearbox calling it a day.

Speaking of Mark Webber, the odds of the talented Australian staying with Jaguar are dropping faster then McLaren Mercedes cars during races... Even though Webber's contract goes on to the end of 2005, it is rumored to include a perfomance clause where Webber is free to walk at the end of the year should the team fail to secure 6th place in the championship by the British Grand Prix. At Monaco, both Jordan-Ford and Toyota finished in the points and leapfrogged Jaguar in the standings... dropping the team to 9th. With only 4 races before Silverstone, the odds of Jaguar catching up with Jordan, Toyota and McLaren are not too good to say the least. With one and possibly two vancancies next year at Williams, Webber is one of the favorites for the coveted race seat with growing rumors than Canadian Jacques Villeneuve could make a return in the other BMW powered car.

Meanwhile, miles away at the sharp end of the grid, it was not business as usual with Ferrari and Michael Schumacher qualifying "only" in 4th place before being passed by the BAR Honda of Takuma Sato and the Mc Laren of Kimi Raikonen on the run to the first corner. The race was incident filled, with Sato's engine blowing up only a few laps into the race and a spectacular accident between the McLaren of David Coulthard and the Sauber of Giancarlo Fisichella blinded by smoke of the blown Honda engine. Halfway thru the race, a bizare incident while behind the safety car between Schumacher and, once again, Montoya forced the Ferrari's retirement opening the door to a duel betwen the Bar Honda of Jenson Button and race leader Jarno Trulli (Renault) who would hold on to the lead to score his maiden win and the first win of the year for a non Ferrari...

But dont' count on Ferrari to stay down, the Europpean Grand Prix is only a week away at Schumacher home track : the Nurburgring...

Monaco Grand Prix Results