BEING the first European race of the season, this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix will see many of the teams introduce aerodynamic upgrades on their cars and it will be fascinating to see which ones have taken the biggest steps forward.
Red Bull Racing have some new parts for my RB5, which we hope will allow us to hold station at the front end of the grid.
But rather than being a one-off step, this weekend's improvements are part of a series of upgrades that we have scheduled for the next few races and I hope that we'll get stronger from race to race.
On the evidence of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the class of the field remains the Brawn GP BGP001. The car has won three of the opening four races and I'm told that it will have some aero mods on it this weekend. When you consider how quick the car was at Barcelona when it tested there at the beginning of March, that could mean that we're in for a hard time.
Our RB5 has worked well at every racetrack this year and I see no reason Barcelona should be any different. It was very good through the middle sector in Malaysia, which wasn't dissimilar in terms of layout to the middle sector at Barcelona, so I'm hopeful that we'll have the raw materials to be competitive.
After the problems that I had during qualifying in Bahrain, when I had my fastest lap in Q1 ruined by a slower car, I need to ensure that I get a smooth run into Q3 this weekend. The grid is so close this year that you need to start every race from the front two or three rows to stand a realistic chance of finishing on the podium. There is absolutely no room for error.
We'll be performing in front of a full house this weekend, which will make a nice change after the empty grandstands of Bahrain.
The number of people watching doesn't make any difference when I'm in the car, but it's fun to see a decent crowd when you're on the drivers' parade or signing autographs. The Spanish love their motorsport and they are very vocal in their support of Fernando Alonso!
Away from the racetrack, it has been great to spend a few days at home in England since the last race. I've been training hard and the weather hasn't been too bad, so it has been nice to relax, mess around with the dogs outside and catch up with friends.
I've been to the Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes a couple of times as well, where I caught up with many of the guys for the first time since Sebastian (Vettel) and I finished first and second in China. Even now, nearly three weeks after the event, everyone seems pretty stoked about the result, which is fantastic.
You've got to remember that many of the guys haven't experienced a result like that in their careers, so it's a big thing.
While at the factory, I talked through the upcoming developments on the RB5 with my race engineer, Ciaron Pilbeam.
First there were the updates for Barcelona to discuss, and then we talked through the additional bits we'll have on the car at Monaco.
When you see what we've got in the pipeline, you realise how hard everyone at Milton Keynes has worked while the race team has been on the other side of the world.
Now, though, it's time to focus on Barcelona. I had a good race to fifth place at the track last year and more of the same this weekend, or even better, is what we're aiming for.
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