Klien in at Monaco deep end

"This will not be the first track I will have raced at where I have no experience," said Klien, "so I am going into it open-minded and motivated."

Monaco though is generally reckoned to be a tricky place to learn and with barriers close at hand and little run-off it certainly punishes mistakes. "The circuit tends to favour those with experience here," warns Klien's Jaguar team-mate Mark Webber, who already had an F3000 win at the track under his belt before trying to get the most out of an F1 car there.

Klien has Thursday testing to try to get a handle on the track and he doesn't seem daunted by it all. "My engineers have been doing their best to describe the likely challenges of the circuit to me," he explained, "but until I get out there, I won't really know.

"We have a good competitive car and I will be aiming for the chequered flag; points would be a bonus. If I can bring the car home in one piece and avoid the barriers I will be pleased."