Hard to improve on stunning `05 finish rate
As Tiago Monteiro prepares for his second season in Formula One, the MF1 Racer knows that as he is no longer a Rookie, the pressure is on for continued progress.
“There’s big pressure in Portugal – from the fans, from friends, from sponsors, everyone," Monteiro admitted to the MF1 Racing website. "It’s part of the job. I guess F1 is the biggest form of motorsport in the world, so everybody is watching you. You have to deal with the pressure, and I’m fine with it.”

Monteiro has already had a taste of V8 power, having done a lot of testing in the interim car over the winter. And, like everyone else, he’s going to have to adjust not only to the lack of thrust, but also to the different driving style that the new cars require.

“It’s a big difference in terms of driving style, it’s a big difference in set-up, and a difference in the tyres, as well," Monteiro continued. "So the engineers and the drivers are going to have to analyse that very carefully and adapt to these unique characteristics. It’s very, very different.”

So what can Monteiro and the team achieve in 2006? Repeating that Indy podium might be a tall order, but he has set a goal of scoring more points on merit.

“It will be difficult to do any better on the reliability, because we finished 18 races out of 19. We will have to be lucky to do better than that, but you never know! But that’s not my main goal, honestly. My goal is to be able to score points on a regular basis and I hope to have a car that will allow me to do that."

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