AT&T Williams F1

More pain in Spain I entered the Barcelona weekend carrying a 10-place grid penalty from Bahrain, so it was always going to be a difficult weekend. And so it turned out to be: I finished 15th and seventh in the two races. My DAMS GP2 car was quick when we tested at the Circuit de Catalunya over the winter, and we carried that pace into the race weekend. I set the fifth fastest time in qualifying but, with the grid penalty, I had to line up in 15th place for race one. Race one: My start was quite good, but as I accelerated towards Turn 1 there was a five-car accident ahead of me. For a moment I couldn't see a way through the carnage because there was tyre smoke everywhere, but I managed not to hit anything and I finished the opening lap in seventh place. Luis Garcia was ahead of me at this point and I pressured him into a mistake at the final corner. Unfortunately, I was running very close to him and I hit the back of his car, which gave me a puncture. I'd just passed the entrance of the pitlane, so I had to complete an entire lap on three wheels, which ruined my race. We changed my strategy in an effort to set the fastest lap and gain one championship point, which I managed to do. It was pleasing that Championship leader, Timo Glock, who stopped for new tyres late in the race, was unable to beat my time. I finished in 15th place, which was where I started race two. Race two: As was the case in race one, I made up a lot of places on the opening lap. I overtook five cars, but then spent most of the race stuck behind Vitaly Petrov. His pace was quite good, which made it difficult to overtake him and all I could do was try to pressurise him into a mistake. Eventually, on the last lap, he made an error at the final corner and I found a way passed. But we both exited the corner slowly, which allowed Giorgio Pantano to overtake both of us and I crossed the line in seventh place, just outside the points. I left Barcelona having scored only one point, in race one. It was frustrating, but I took some comfort from the fact that the car was quick. If I can have a trouble-free race weekend in the future, I'm sure I can get a good result. Now I must look ahead to the next race in Monte Carlo. I've never driven there before, so I will spend the next two weeks looking at videos of the track and trying to learn it on my Playstation. I enjoyed racing at Macau in Formula 3 and I'm sure I'll like Monaco too.