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F1: Bourdais Ready to Step Forward
Written by: RACER & autosport.com
RACER Magazine   http://www.racer.com/speedtv
05/16/2008 - 11:50 AM
Le Castellet, France
 
Bourdais is hopeful for an upturn in his F1 fortunes now that STR's new chassis is finally ready to race. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

Sebastien Bourdais’ Formula 1 career hasn’t gotten off to all that smooth a start, but the former Champ Car ace says he is encouraged by the potential of Scuderia Toro Rosso’s new STR3 chassis, which is scheduled to race for the first time at next weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

The new car’s introduction was delayed following a crash with Bourdais at the wheel during testing before last month’s Spanish Grand Prix. The original plan was to race it in Turkey. Bourdais, however, reckons the car that will race in Monaco is stronger than the one that last seen in testing for the first time in Barcelona.

“The racing package is a bit of an evolution from what we had in Barcelona,” Bourdais said during testing this week at the Paul Ricard test track in France. “I was quite happy with the car, and I think the potential is quite high.

“This morning we were quite quick. Globally it seems to be a nice step forward for us. We were anticipating that, obviously, but it seems to have materialized, so that’s good.”

“The base of the car was quite strong from the beginning. As soon
as I stepped into the car in Barcelona, despite not being in good shape, it was quite quick already so we were encouraged by that. And then we moved here with a very different configuration, with maximum downforce to prepare for Monaco, and the car seems to handle quite nicely.

“We are still learning about the car, which is the biggest thing for us – and trying to validate all the systems and make sure we don’t break anything. It’s encouraging. We haven’t had many problems and generally I’m quite happy.”

The Frenchman says he is looking forward to racing in Monaco, although he is aware that it will be very different in an F1 car. Bourdais last raced at the Principality in an F3000 car in 2002 (he won).

“Obviously, Monaco for a Frenchman is very special,” he said. “I’ve been quite fast there in F3000 and it’s a track I really like, so I’m very much looking forward to it.

“I know in an F1 car the track is completely different, but I always like street courses and especially Monaco. I’m quite excited about the prospect of racing there.”
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