Michael Schumacher arrived in Monaco yesterday bidding to become only the third driver in Formula One history to achieve five or more wins at the circuit commonly perceived to be the most challenging on the sport's calendar.

Only Ayrton Senna, with six wins - five of them consecutively from 1989 to 1993 - and Graham Hill have notched five or more wins in Monaco but this year Schumacher feels he can join the illustrious pair.

"Monaco has been very good for me in the past and I feel sure we will be just as competitive this year", said the Ferrari driver. "The car is good and strong, the team are ready for it and I feel very good," he added.

The German has every right to feel confident about this weekend. At the Nurburgring two weeks ago he extended his championship lead over chief rival Mika Hakkinen to 18 points. Not insurmountable given the fact that there are 11 races left but on the back of four wins already this season and with the memory of last year's impressive Ferrari one-two here, Schumacher will undoubtedly feel that luck is falling in his favour.

The same cannot be said for the defending champion. Dogged by mechanical problems in the opening races of the season and struggling to come to terms with a car he admits is difficult to understand and even more stressful to drive, Hakkinen's motivation is coming under serious fire.

Yesterday, the Finn's will to win was further questioned by Niki Lauda. The former Ferrari star and three-time world champion admitted he thought Hakkinen's motivation appeared to be ebbing.

"If he wants to carry on racing with full motivation, then he has to leave McLaren," Lauda told Germany's Die Welt newspaper. "I can speak from my own experience: I left Ferrari after four years because I got fed up," said the Austrian, who left Ferrari in 1977, after claiming the 1975 and 1977 titles. He later won a third championship crown with McLaren in 1984.

Hakkinen is likely to pay little heed to Lauda's comments and, indeed, tersely responded that "it may have been the case in Niki's day, which, somebody told me was more than 20 years ago, but it is not so now."

Hakkinen will undoubtedly be more mindful of his own record around the streets of Monaco, though. Despite claiming the last three poles here, the Finn has only won the race once in 1998. Prior to that he failed to finish is all six of his previous attempts. Last year, Hakkinen blew his pole by making a poor start and then, attempting to play catch-up, spun on oil left on the track at the Mirabeau turn.

Meanwhile, further down the grid, Prost yesterday denied that technical director Alan Jenkins has left the team. Rumours abounded yesterday that Jenkins who moved from the Stewart team to Prost a little over a year ago had parted from the troubled French outfit, which has had a disastrous 2000 season. s title sponsor *SDA the team swiftly issued a statement denying Jenkins had left.

"Contrary to reports issued today, Alan Jenkins has not resigned from the position of Technical Director of the team," said a Prost spokesperson. "However, Mr Jenkins will not be attending the Monaco Grand Prix."

There is still some suggestion that Jenkins is at an impasse with the outfit and should his withdrawal from the team eventually come to pass, Prost will sink further into the mire.