Bruni Enjoys First Day in Monaco

Minardi driver Gianmaria Bruni was happy with his first day of work at the Monte Carlo circuit, in his first ever Monaco Formula One Grand Prix.

Italian Bruni, making his F1 debut this season, was the quickest of the Minardi trio in today's sessions, finishing in 21st position ahead of Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner and test driver Bas Leinders, the Belgian being over 1.5 seconds slower than his teammates.

"It was generally a good day for us and we improved steadily, which is what I wanted to do, as this is my first time here in a race car," said Bruni. "It's a funny circuit, with the speed you do through the tunnel and the closeness of the walls and the barriers.

"I'm very happy with the work the mechanics and the engineers did today. I wasn't able to get a clear lap on my last run, which should have been my fastest, so I wasn't quite able to realise the full potential of the car, but we still did some solid work, which we can build on tomorrow."

Baumgartner, like Bruni also in his first Formula One Grand Prix in Monaco, was pleased with his day's work despite an accident in the first session when he crashed into the barriers.

"I was pleased to get into a good rhythm pretty much straightaway," said the Hungarian. "I have driven here in F3000, but this place is very different in an F1 car â€" the speed is just so much higher and the track is very narrow.

"I made a small mistake in the first session and touched the barrier with the right rear wheel of the car. Fortunately, there wasn't too much damage, and although we lost some time in the garage while repairs were made, by the end of the second session we had made up the time and finished everything we had planned."