AT&T Williams F1

My first experience of Monaco exceeded my expectations. It is a fantastic track and no amount of simulation work at the AT&T Williams factory prepared me for actually driving it. I learnt which way the track went, but the simulator doesn't give you the g-forces and that's what makes it so different when you are in the car. During GP2 practice on Thursday I learnt something new every lap, such as where to brake, where to turn-in and where to push a bit harder. We didn’t change the set-up of the car much because my DAMS team had a good result at the track last year with Franck Perera. My engineer set-up my car as he had Franck's last year and let me learn the track. I had some clear laps in qualifying, but I struggled with understeer quite a lot. We thought about changing the balance of the car, but it was difficult to know which way to go with the set-up. In the end we didn't make any changes and that, in hindsight, was a mistake. I qualified 18th, which left me with the prospect of a difficult race. My main aim was to finish the 45-lap race because I wanted to get as much experience of Monaco as possible. I made my compulsory pitstop on lap three in the hope of getting some laps without traffic. At that stop we changed only the rear tyres because the fronts were strong and it’s usually the rears that give way first. After the pitstop I had a lot of oversteer, which was surprising. I wanted to save the rears for the end of the race, so I didn't push hard. That proved to be the right thing to do because the balance of the car improved as the race progressed and I was setting competitive lap times towards the end of the race. I got stuck behind Antonio Pizzonia in the middle part of the race. Even though I was quicker I couldn’t find a way through and I finished 10th, which wasn’t too bad when you consider where I started. There is now a month break in the GP2 calendar while the Formula One circus heads to North America for the Canadian and US Grands Prix. I'll be driving the FW29 during Friday morning practice at both races, which I'm looking forward to. I've never been to mainland America, so it will be an interesting trip.