The new STR3 figures to give Bourdais more of a fighting chance. (LAT photo) » More Photos

Bourdais knows that it was important to get off to such a good start: “The race made us, we just kind of hung in there and made no mistakes, and just benefited from the situation. We didn’t finish where we maybe deserved or would have wanted to, and since then it’s been an up-and-down road.”

It’s certainly not been easy. He retired early in Malaysia and Spain, and most recently had a spectacular off in Turkey after his brakes failed.

“It was the disc bell on the right front that broke into three pieces,” he explains. “That’s the reason why the thing didn’t slow down too well at Turn 12. It wouldn’t slow down much with three wheels, it’s not very effective. I thought it was a suspension failure a the rear, because the car didn’t transfer the weight it was supposed to. It kind of was leaning on its back and it pulled to the left.

“At first I thought I was going to crash pretty badly, because the car wouldn’t slow down at all, and then I felt that I was still able to keep it somewhat straight, and then spun at the end. It was a weird incident. It’s never a nice feeling in an F1 car when you get to over 180mph and you hit the brakes and nothing happens. We’re lucky enough to be racing on modern tracks that have quite a bit of run-off...

The last time Bourdais saw Monaco, he came away a winner in F3000. (LAT photo) » More Photos

“Before that, at the pit stop the Intertechnique (refueling) rig didn’t function, so it took 40 seconds to get the pit stop done. It’s too bad, because the start of the race went quite well for us, we picked up a few positions. But unfortunately it was too short a race again for us.”

Despite the setbacks, he remains philosophical: “That’s what racing is all about, there’s a lot of disappointment and you really need to enjoy the good moments. I’ve been really blessed in having a lot of them lately [in America], but this is really a different game now.”

Life wasn’t made any easier in the early races by the fact that the team used a development of its 2007 car. The new machine finally arrives for Monaco, somewhat later than expected, and now there can be no more excuses.

“Obviously we made an awesome start of the season with Melbourne, at least in the race, but then we were lacking pace quite clearly. But Monaco was the second start to the season with the new car.

“We have a really good atmosphere within the Red Bull group. People are working hard, and hopefully we’ll get a bit better rewarded for our efforts during the rest of the season.”