McNish set for Monaco debut

"The good thing from my point of view is that it's only about 300 metres from home!" he joked. "I've never raced there, and when you drive round in a Lexus at 50kph, with policemen everywhere, it doesn't really help. It will be the first time we've been there as a team, and it's such a weird place I hope it doesn't catch us out at some point."

While McNish and the majority of the Toyota team lack experience of Monaco, Mika Salo and technical director Gustav Brunner are old hands at the track. Salo is one of a small breed of Monaco specialists, and having scored points in four of his six starts there it's no surprise that he's a fan.

"It's my favourite track," he said. "I'm curious to wait and see how the car suits the circuit. I've always had a good race there and it will be a good test for us. If we finish that race with the two cars we can consider it well done."

Brunner believes that the team's test at Paul Ricard last week stands it in good stead for a competitive showing this weekend.

"Monaco is more about the mechanical things, whereas our problem is aerodynamics," he admitted. "I have a very, very good feeling for the place as I've been in Monaco many times. I've never failed there, and with other teams we always managed to get youngsters onto the grid even if they hardly had a driving licence!"