Pedro de la Rosa: HRT will gain ground in Monaco Grand Prix

With the team still playing catch-up after a late debut for its F112, de la Rosa reckons that he and team-mate Narain Karthikeyan will not be at such a disadvantage as they were at the Spanish Grand Prix.

"Monaco is by far the most difficult and technical circuit in the entire championship," said the Spaniard. "The only trick to this track is to do miles and not change the car's set-up too much because you can find more time in the driver than in the car.

"We must try to do as many laps as possible on Thursday in order to build up some confidence for qualifying because it's the most important thing in Monaco."

He added: "We're all really looking forward to the race because it's a less aerodynamic track than Barcelona and, therefore, we expect to be closer to the leaders than in the last grand prix."

Team principal Luiz Perez-Sala said the outfit will be bringing a few minor updates for the weekend.

"It's a tough test for the car's reliability and even more so if it is hot," he said. "We have minor upgrades for this race which we hope will help us to close the gap to the front pack. The team is really looking forward to taking on a beautiful race as is Monaco."