Fisichella Upbeat ahead of Monaco GP

The Italian driver ended a streak of three consecutive retirements by finishing fifth at the Spanish Grand Prix 10 days ago.

The result will allow him to be one of the last drivers to go out in first qualifying on Saturday, something he had been unable to do in previous races as a consequence of his retirements.

Fisichella, winner of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, believes now the qualfying problems are over he will be able to fight at the top.

"It [Monte Carlo] is one of my favourite tracks, I feel really confident, I have a great car, we have a new aero package here which is a good step forward and I really feel confident and comfortable in Monaco and I am really excited," Fisichella said.

"I am looking forward, you know, I have the position now for the first qualifying session on the Saturday and I am really confident."

The Renault driver, whose team won at the Mediterranean principality last year with Jarno Trulli, believes McLaren are likely to be their main rivals this weekend following Kimi Raikkonen's dominant performance in Spain.

"I think McLaren did a fantastic job in the last couple of races, they improved quite a lot with their new aero package, especially in Barcelona," he added.
 
"Ferrari was really, really good in Imola but was not so good in Barcelona as Imola, so McLaren has been much more consistent than Ferrari."