Renault fancies its chances

Bell commented: "This is traditionally a circuit that suits us: the R24 should perform strongly there, and the car has a good high-downforce package. Equally, our drivers have been impeccable so far and there is little reason for that to change in Monaco: Jarno (Trulli) has been historically very quick through the streets, and is extremely motivated after his first podium of the year."

Trulli himself takes heart from the team's good performances to date this year. "So far, the team has had a very strong start to the season, and for me, this is definitely the best start I have had in my time at Renault. Barcelona was a great result because we earned our finish - there was nothing lucky about it, no presents from other teams - and both Fernando and I are performing strongly in the championship. As a team, we are strong with perfect reliability, and motivation is high for Monaco."

However the Italian star warns that life can be unpredictable at Monaco. "Even though the layout stays the same, Monaco is a different race every year," he says, "with its own surprises and characteristics. We made progress with the car at Barcelona, and it was very consistent in performance during the race. I think this can be a good race for us, but there are too many variables now to make any definite predictions."

Trulli's Spanish team-mate Fernando is similarly unwilling to make rash assumptions: "The race is so different to anywhere else that we cannot make any predictions until we have started running on Thursday. It is very important to know the circuit well and to have experience racing there, to know how the track changes, and to best understand how to set the car up and cope with the changing conditions - grip levels increase very quickly, and that can catch you out."