What's life in the fast lane REALLY like for an F1 heiress? FEMAIL joins Tamara Ecclestone for an access-all-areas Monaco Grand Prix (but it's not as glamorous as you might think) 

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To some, it's vulgar, to others, it's the pinnacle of their social calendar, but for Tamara Ecclestone-Rutland, the Monaco Grand Prix is home.

Her Formula One mogul father Bernie Ecclestone did, of course, dream the whole thing up and build it into one of the most successful sporting brands in the world. And when you're the heir to his estimated £3bn fortune, your namesake is gold dust here.

As an exceptional location for glamour and prestige, Monaco GP is the jewel in the F1 crown, and Tamara is the tiny Mediterranean principality's unofficial Queen come racing season.

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Tamara, with daughter Sophia during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, says her life has changed dramatically since having her daughter

'My life is definitely a lot less glamorous than people seem to think,' admits Tamara, who welcomed her first baby with husband Jay Rutland last year

This quickly becomes apparent as the weekend with the glossy-maned, perfectly made-up 30-year-old unfolds.

Burly security guards follow us everywhere, we travel from her suite at five-star Hotel Hermitage to the Red Bull VIP area via a private underground tunnel that only she and Bernie have access to, and fans mob her for selfies as she arrives at the track.

'Is that the palace up there?,' I enquire as we drive past. 'Yes, my father joined Prince Albert for dinner there last night,' she replies nonchalantly.

This is all standard practice when your father is one of the globe's 1,826 billionaires. It therefore goes without saying that Tamara's lifestyle is something few will be able to relate to. 

FEMAIL joins the heiress to F1, Tamara Ecclestone, for an access-all-areas Monaco Grand Prix weekend

When you're Tamara, burly security guards follow you everywhere, you travel from your suite at Hotel Hermitage to the Red Bull VIP area via a private underground tunnel that only she and Bernie have access to, and fans mob you for selfies at the track

Tamara shows us the glamorous side of Monaco aboard a luxury super yacht

Admittedly, she lives in a house worth an estimated £70m on the most expensive street in London, Mariah Carey and Elton John performed at her wedding and P Diddy flew in to sing at her 30th birthday party.

As a result of her father's unfathomable wealth, Tamara has long been criticised for her glamorous lifestyle and accused of splashing Bernie's money on clothes and clubbing.

But, believe it or not, Tamara Ecclestone's life can be just like that of any new mother.

She may have a private jet and a collection of covetable Hermes Birkin handbags but, she's laughing because she's covered in her 14-month-old daughter Sophia's snot and she's cursing because she's lost the nappy bag.

Her jokes are at her own expense, she dubs herself an 'uptight weirdo' and she's in fits of giggles because Sophia has ripped her playsuit straight to her naval mid-breast feed.

When we arrive at the five-star Metropole for lunch and the waiter presents us with a five-course set menu (think foie gras and lobster), Tamara seems disappointed. 'Oh, I really just fancied a big bowl of pasta, can we just go and sit in the lounge?', she asks. 'Do you guys mind?'. We all breathe an internal sigh of relief. Spag bol, club sandwiches, chips and chocolate mousse it is. 

Tamara, who welcomed 14-month-old Sophia with her husband Jay last year, takes her bundle of joy everywhere with her

Tamara may have a private jet and a collection of covetable Hermes Birkin handbags but, like any new mother, she's laughing because she's covered in her 14-month-old daughter Sophia's snot

'My life is definitely a lot less glamorous than people seem to think,' admits Tamara, who welcomed her first baby - daughter Sophia - with husband Jay Rutland last year. 

'I am constantly covered in snot and poo. I get home, take my bra off and there's food and crumbs that she's thrown at me everywhere; life is generally a lot more messy.'

The scene today is an altogether different affair to 2010 when Tamara, dressed to the nines in a feast of sparkles and fake tan, would no doubt have been partying at Monaco's finest clubs until 5am.

'My funniest memory of Monaco was when we were here with Naomi Campbell and we were walking from the boat to the paddock and I fell in the water completely fully-clothed,' she recalls. 

'It was so shameful, Naomi was dragging me out of the water and she had to take me back to hers and lend me her clothes so I didn't have to walk around looking like a drowned rat.'

Since becoming a mother, she's shunned partying for bubble baths with Sophia (albeit filled with Bvlgari soap suds), and has no desire to drink alcohol again.

'In my teen years, we would always go to Jimmy'z nightclub, but coming here now is definitely a different experience,' she admits. 

'I feel like I've been there and done that with the partying side of it so I'm happy to experience it in a more chilled way.'

Since becoming a mother, she's shunned partying for bubble baths with Sophia (albeit filled with Bvlgari soap suds), and has no desire to drink alcohol again

Tamara, who has been coming to Monaco Grand Prix for years, says she's done with the partying side of it and is happy to experience it in a more chilled way

Tamara, whose Croatian mother Slavica, 57, divorced her diminutive tycoon father after 24 years of marriage in 2009, is determined to give Sophia an upbringing as happy as her own

Proving that she's swapped her partying days for business and babies, she took baby Sophia along to the prestigious Amber Lounge event on Friday night, of which her beauty brand, Show, was a sponsor. The mother-daughter duo were tucked up in bed by 9pm.

Dressed in a modest long-sleeved, low-hemmed Balmain dress, the perennially glamorous heiress admits her style has evolved 'a lot' - and it's not solely down to becoming a mother.

'I choose more practical clothing now but I also feel that I'm more confident and secure as a person so I feel that everything is more understated these days.

'I feel like I don't need to....,' she trails off before assertively continuing: 'I feel like I used to have more insecurities and dress to make more of an effort in the wrong ways.

'Everything had to be bigger - the hair, the lashes - but now, aside from at events, I actually hate wearing make-up. I don't wear deodorant or perfume because I'm breastfeeding and panic that everything is toxic. First of all, I don't have the time for that and second of all, I am in a different place right now.'

'Our happiest family times are just chilling out at home or going to the park,' she explains

Doting Tamara, who says she 'can't bear to be away from Sophia' guides her tot across the table on a luxury yacht in the Monaco harbour

You're more likely to find the 'new' Tamara at a Monkey Music class with Sophia than falling out of a club - and she's certainly taken to motherhood like a duck to water.

'If you'd asked me five years ago where I saw myself now, this wouldn't be it. I didn't know I was going to be such a hands-on mother, I kind of surprised myself,' she admits.

Tamara, whose Croatian mother Slavica, 57, divorced her diminutive tycoon father after 24 years of marriage in 2009, is determined to give Sophia an upbringing as happy as her own.  

Admitting that 'travelling the world' is among her most cherished memories from growing up, it was also the more mundane aspects of her childhood ('mum and dad taking us to school and doing our homework work whilst mum was cooking)' that she holds closest to her heart.

'Family was always the most important part of our lives and I want that for Sophia.' Just a glance at her Instagram account proves that family bonding is of the utmost importance to her and Jay - who, along with their daughter, are a very glamorous version of the Three Musketeers.

'Our happiest family times are just chilling out at home or going to the park,' she explains.

It's little surprise that they're more than content to kick back at Casa Ecclestone-Rutland - their Kensington townhouse complete with 57 rooms, an indoor pool, nightclub, bowling alley, and a beauty salon.

Tamara never tires of watching her little girl grow up and the pair elicit 'ahhs' and 'coos' from the most unmaternal of women in Monaco

'Now that I've had Sophia, there's so many things I've thought of that I would love to do for children; I definitely think that could be the next thing,' she reveals

The family mansion served as the perfect backdrop for Sophia's first birthday party - a lavish celebration with zebras, sheep, puppies and ponies. The public took to social media to brand the party 'pathetic' and a 'total waste of money'.

Does she care what people think? 'Everyone was like "she's not going to remember it" and I'm like "of course she's not going to remember it but she's going to have a video of it and photos and she enjoyed it at the time and for me it was a milestone".

'I couldn't believe my baby was turning one, it was such an emotional time.'

Tamara seemingly never tires of watching her little girl grow up and the pair elicit 'ahhs' and 'coos' from the most unmaternal of women in Monaco.

When I ask what the longest amount of time she's been away from her daughter is, the reply is a resolute: 'never!'. So enamoured with her bundle of joy is she that she doesn't even have a nanny ('I can't bear being away from her'), and is happy to juggle her hectic work schedule with being a mother ('you don't have to choose one or the other').

So what does 'working' entail when you're a billionairess? Despite being safe in the knowledge that she never has to work a day in her life, Tamara has successfully launched a luxury hair brand, Show. 

Tamara, who runs her own haircare brand, Show, say she is happy to juggle her hectic work schedule with being a mother ('you don't have to choose one or the other')

Tamara says she doesn't have time for exercise but keeps fit by taking Sophia for a walk in her buggy around her local park most days

Tamara says it's great bringing her own brand to Monaco, where her father built his hugely successful brand

Yes, she was fortunate enough to have a hefty trust fund to help get things going, but she's had a tough old job proving to the hard-to-impress beauty press and naysayers that 'Bernie's daughter' has a valid product on her hands.

Tamara recruited members formerly of luxury brands such as Eve Lom, Giorgio Armani, Elizabeth Arden and Guerlain to develop her line of styling potions, which were designed to look great and do a good job (which I can attest they do) without - somewhat ironically - breaking the bank.

'I am so proud of what I've created and it's so exciting coming here with Show sponsoring the Amber Lounge fashion event,' she says enthusiastically. 'It's something I've been going to for years and years so bringing my brand here and seeing it being used on the models and emblazoned across the step and repeat board was amazing.'

She may have a sense of self-gratification but there's someone else she's clearly keen to prove herself to.

'It's so great to bring my own brand to where my dad has built his own incredible brand,' she beams. 'It's amazing to hear that my parents are proud of me. I'm not creating Formula One, but this is my little dream.'

Her charity work keeps her busy and she's been quietly fundraising for Great Ormond Street for ten years

Tamara speaks graciously to waiting fans and press outside her father's office

She may not have the next Formula One on her hands but it's clear that Bernie's eldest daughter has inherited his entrepreneurial flair. After successfully launching blow dry bars in Dublin, Dubai and London, and taking her brand to Hong Kong, she's getting set to unveil a one-off bodycare product this summer. And her next potential move seems hugely organic.

'Now that I've had Sophia, there's so many things I've thought of that I would love to do for children; I definitely think that could be the next thing,' she reveals. And keeping with the family ethos that's so close to her heart, she's already in talks with her younger sister Petra, a mother-of-three, about a business venture.

Tamara, left, at an event in 2013, and, right, this weekend at the Amber Lounge fashion show with Sophia in tow, says her style as evolved 'a lot' and it's down to her growing confidence within herself

Petra Ecclestone, Tamara Ecclestone, Holly Branson and Princess Beatrice attend the F1 Party at the Natural History Museum in 2010

Bernie, Tamara and Sophia jet out of Monaco together after another successful Grand Prix

Her charity work keeps her busy, too, and she's been quietly fundraising for Great Ormond Street for ten years now. 'It's such an amazing place. I've been so many times and met the amazing doctors, patients and their parents; it has a really special place in my heart.'

They say that money can't buy you manners or class but in Tamara's case, it really can. Polite, funny and enviably glamorous, she's the kind of girl you wished was your big sister.

She may be set to become one of the richest women in Britain but it's clear that money (and lobster) don't motivate Tamara; she's found a surprising level of happiness through becoming a mother and launching a successful brand in her own right.

Forget Formula One, this is Formula Won.