Sebastien Bourdais has admitted that he is looking forward to returning to Monaco after years of racing on American street courses, even though he knows he will have to be extra careful on the debut of Toro Rosso's new chassis.
The Frenchman has already blotted his copybook with the STR3, crashing the first example heavily in testing at the Circuit de Catalunya and delaying its race debut until this weekend, but insists that he will be able to enjoy Monaco, a track he has not driven since his time in the old
FIA F3000 series.
"It is difficult to believe that it was six years ago, as it feels like it was yesterday," he confessed, "It was a great weekend in 2002 and it would be awesome to have that kind of weekend again. I am not dreaming, but the new car seems to be a good step forward and we will see where we are after qualifying.
"I've been here three times before, and the track has changed in the meantime. There are a lot fewer guardrails at the apices, the visibility is a bit better and they put in some kerbs in some places as well. So the track is maybe a bit easier, but going from an F3000 car to an
F1 car, it is definitely going to feel a lot different - and probably a lot narrower."
Bourdais finally makes his F1 debut in the Principality after five years of exile in Champ Car racing, where he gained a lot more experience of racing within the tight confines of inner city courses, but he maintains that Monaco remains the ultimate test.
"Obviously, there are a lot of street courses in the States, but none really compare to what we have here," he claimed, "It is a very challenging and interesting one - and it has been quite good to me in the past. It is not France, but as close as it can be without being France, and I think it is a very special venue for me. Obviously, I want to do well and, hopefully, we will have a good weekend. I have always been very fast here.
