I think I will be getting really strong - Albers

Monaco was a tough weekend for Christijan Albers. Mechanical problems on Thursday and Saturday meant he never really got into a good rhythm and the last thing you want at on the streets of the Principality is to lose track time.

But despite an afternoon that resulted in a frustrating late retirement, Albers ended Sunday with a smile on his face. In effect he used the race as a test session, and running on his own for much of the time, he was really able to focus on what the car was doing. It’s no secret that he has found it hard to adapt his style to the 2007 Bridgestone tyres, but Monaco brought a step forward.

"We had to do an aggressive strategy to be able to score some points," says the Dutchman. "We started on the super soft tyre, and it was just too early to do that at the beginning of the race. I think Sato also struggled quite a lot on that tyre. After the first pit stop we went on the normal soft, and it was much better.

"The times were immediately there, and then you get in traffic, and it’s really difficult to do reasonable lap times. But generally I think the speed in the middle and the end was quite good. I’m coming back to being consistent again, and that’s what I want at the end of the day.

"The strategy was maybe not the best, but I think if you are at the back of the grid, you have to push for an aggressive strategy, and if some rain came we would have been the heroes! Unfortunately though in the end we had a driveshaft problem."

Although his race finished after 70 laps, the miles he completed were very valuable.

"The important thing is that I got something from the car. I now know what the car is doing, and I think I know a solution. And then I think I will be getting really strong.

"So that made me really happy, that I finally found something that was not supporting my driving style. If I can get together with my engineers and the team, we can sort that out. Maybe the result was not good, but sometimes you don’t need a good result to find something. So for me that’s very positive."

Christijan says he is looking forward to Canada, a race where bad weather and safety car interventions can often throw up the unexpected: "I think we can get a better result there, and we can prove something. We’re going to go for maximum attack!"