The Circuit de Catalunya is still one of the best tracks on the calendar because we drivers have raced and tested there so many times and can get straight down to it. The track has a bit of everything - very slow sections mixed with quicker sections and two very fast straights - particularly the start/finish - which is one of the fastest straights on the calendar. The weather can be mixed at this time of year, which makes it unpredictable and quite interesting for the race. Our objective will be to try to get more from the package and hopefully get the new developments working well because the early signs were quite promising.

The Circuit de Catalunya is one of my favourite circuits as I’ve raced here many times, so it gives a driver a good head start when you know a track so well. We tested here at the beginning of the season, but we will still have the usual set-up programme to work through because, with the track’s changeable conditions, a tyre compound can work well one time and less well the next. It’s going to be a very busy week, as the Spanish Grand Prix is back to back with Monaco, so we will have two weeks of fantastic F1 racing for the fans to look forward to.

We head to Barcelona this week optimistic that we can continue to make another step forward. We had a positive aero test at Idiada last weekend, which we hope will help us extract more from our upgrade package at the Circuit de Catalunya.

We’re on proper European soil now for a couple of races which, coupled with the fact that we’re very familiar with this track through testing, makes things easier. The fact that this circuit is a known-quantity and we have a lot of data from 2010 and the two pre-season tests to work with means that we have a good knowledge base from which to set the car up. This track is also a good barometer of overall car performance so we will have a more representative perspective of how well our updates are working.