The glitz and glamour of Monaco, Hollywood movie stars, high-octane racing and a cluster of £140,000 diamonds…

If that sounds like a plot sketch for a blockbuster heist movie then the truth is actually stranger than fiction.

This weekend, the Formula One roadshow rolls into Monaco once again, 20 years on from one of the sport’s most extraordinary mysteries.

It’s the story of how the struggling Jaguar F1 team, with a little help from George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon – and some distinctly sloppy driving – managed either the greatest PR coup or disaster of all-time.

With the hit film Ocean’s Twelve in production and the Monaco race fast approaching, Jaguar Racing’s director of communications Nav Sidhu saw the stars aligning.

Hollywood stars George Clooney (second left), Brad Pitt (centre) and Matt Damon (second right) with Jaguar F1 drivers Christian Klien (left) and Mark Webber (right) and an Ocean’s Twelve-branded nosecone ahead of the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix

An elaborate stunt to promote both Jaguar and Ocean’s Twelve involved mounting $250,000 diamonds on the nosecones of the cars during the Monaco race