By Ian Lockwood
May 13 2010

Thanks for your goodwill messages since my win in Spain. It’s great to know that I have so much support, even though I won by 24 seconds and made the race pretty boring!

"It’s unrealistic to expect the RB6 to be as competitive in Monaco as it was at the Circuit de Catalunya. This track is the polar opposite of Barcelona: it’s a street circuit and its slow corners don’t reward aerodynamic performance, which is one of the car’s strongest points. But I think we’ll be more competitive than we were last year, when I finished fifth.

"The thing about Monaco is that we don’t get to do much wheel-to-wheel racing. The track is incredibly narrow, which makes it very difficult to overtake – even when a backmarker is trying to let you through! As a result, it becomes a battle between you and the racetrack.

"You have to give the track a lot of respect because you’re hugging the barriers all the way around and your concentration needs to be absolute. There’s no difference between a big mistake and a small one here; you’re in the barrier if you do either.

"Qualifying will be vitally important and it’s going to be very difficult to get a clear lap in Q1, when 24 cars are on the track. The drivers asked to split Q1 into two groups to make it a cleaner session for everyone, but some of the team bosses at the back of the grid rejected the idea. As a result, I’ll be relying heavily on the pitwall to tell me where the slower cars are on the racetrack.

"The backmarkers will be coming at us the whole time. In the race that will break up your rhythm and cost you time, but it’s not a new problem here; you’ve just got to deal with it.

"I’m not setting any specific goals this weekend, other than to finish the race in the points. Another podium would be great, but I’m not counting my chickens because anything can happen at Monaco."