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The passenger door of a Mustang Dark Horse, an iconic American supercar capable of 0-60mph in around four seconds, slams shut. I buckle myself in and look across to the driver's seat, which is currently occupied by multiple Le Mans 24 Hours winner Romain Dumas.

The Frenchman knows how to drive fast, having smashed the Qualifying record of the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb last year. The ideal credentials, then, for a Pirelli Hot Lap around the most famous racing circuit in the world – Monaco's iconic Monte Carlo street track.

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It's 0845 local time and the circuit has been shut a little earlier than usual to allow 11 supercars to peel onto the tarmac and pull up at the penultimate corner, Rascasse. Each will give some lucky guests the ride of their life around this undulating, barrier-lined 19-turn track.

I'm Dumas' third lap of the day, so I'm pretty confident he'll have got his eye in – and he doesn't disappoint.

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We blast off from Rascasse, that incidentally houses local racer Charles Leclerc's favourite restaurant, which he has visited since he was a child and is named after the bar that sits just inside the barriers.

I remember it for the moment when seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher stopped on track in Qualifying in 2006, forcing those behind to abord their flying laps. But there's no parking up today as Dumas cracks on, launching the car through the final corner, Antony Noghes.

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Though I know it's coming, I get flung towards the left as Dumas accelerates out of the corner and down the main straight, the grid slots that will house 20 of the fastest drivers in the world on Sunday flashing by.

I try to catch a glimpse of the podium on the left – where Prince Albert II of Monaco will dish out the trophies – but I miss it as we hurtle towards Sainte Devote.

The night before, I had crossed the track here to head into Nice train station, but today, barriers guard entry to the public from the demanding first corner. It's just 150m from the start line and is an intriguing right-hander that has all too often teased cars into its Tech-pro barriers.

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Fortunately, Dumas avoids that fate, slamming on the brakes before coaxing the Mustang through the turn – though he does get up close and personal with the barriers as we shoot up towards the blind Beau Rivage.

This section is lined with some of the most fashionable shops in the world, with a view of the Mediterranean Sea on the opposite side, but this is wasted on me as I'm transfixed by Massenet, the trickiest corner of the circuit according to Dumas.

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It's a long left-hander that forces the Frenchman to work the steering through it, the famous Casino Square smashing into view before we rattle down the hill, dodging the big bump that sits on the racing line, and pull back to the left to set up for Mirabeau.

Dumas hits the brakes, throwing me forward and my belt pushing into my chest, preparing for what is the slowest section of corners on the F1 calendar.

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We breeze out of the downhill turn and head for the hairpin that requires the most steering lock on the F1 calendar. It's probably the closest we get to relative F1 speeds through a corner – F1 cars are doing just 30mph through this tight turn – and it feels pedestrian at this point.

We continue downhill to Portier, made famous by Ayrton Senna who crashed here in 1988 while leading then McLaren team mate Alain Prost by more than a minute. Senna didn't go back to the pits, but instead strolled to his nearby apartment and was not seen for several hours.

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Into the tunnel we go, my eyes needing to adjust back to daylight very quickly, before Dumas applies the brakes aggressively to ensure we make it through the Nouvelle Chicane. We clip both kerbs and head down to my favourite corner – Tabac.

Named after a little tobacco shop that straddles the corner, Tabac is the first corner I got to watch F1 cars trackside in Monaco.

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If you've got a bib, you can stand just centimetres from the track and peer through the gap in the fence for photographers to take photos. I remember seeing the immense focus in the eyes of the drivers as they flew through, the ground sending a vibration that shuddered through my body.

In the Mustang, I peer through the photographer hole in reverse, but it's gone in the blink of an eye. Then it's into the Swimming Pool section that features two chicanes. Dumas attacks the first. It feels like we're so close to clipping the inside Armco barrier, but Dumas doesn't even flinch.

We have to back out of the second chicane, which Lewis Hamilton launched his Ferrari over in first practice this year, as we've got yellow flags to signal the end of the Hot Laps version of the lap. We pull into Rascasse and I reach over to shake Dumas’ hand.

"That smile tells me you loved it," says Dumas. "Hell yes, I did.” I swing open the door and find myself bouncing out of the seat and out of the way to allow the next victim in, the adrenaline pulsing through my body. An incredible experience – and one I certainly won't be forgetting in a hurry.

Click on the video at the top of the article to watch Lawrence Barretto's hot lap in Monaco