Giancarlo Fisichella absolutely loves the Monaco Grand Prix, and his weekend there was not all as bad as it seemed. Yes, the results disappoint him, but there were other factors that made the weekend a positive one. In this week's column, Fisico talks about his last race weekend at the little principality, as he looks forward to a race at Montreal - the venue of his first ever podium, some five years ago

I was watching the Monaco Grand Prix on video after the race, and I must say I was pretty impressed with some of the in-car TV shots, so perhaps you will understand how I feel when I am on a special (hot) lap around Monaco - there is nothing quite so exhilarating in the world.

Sweeping through (the long curving left-hand bend) Massanet to set the car up for maximum attack on the double blind apex through Casino Square is fantastic. My EJ13 felt quite nervous everywhere, but arriving at Casino Square was particularly exciting! Just like the tunnel, it always gives me an incredible feeling to drive flat-out through there. The long, right hand bend that we take flat out is the fastest part of the track and anyone who has been in the tunnel - marshals or photographers -are always surprised by the sheer speed and spectacle as we race through there.

I am always disappointed to finish a race without any points, especially a tough race like Monaco. But hey, we had a reliable package and for that reason I would like to thank my team. I know they have been working flat-out to provide Ralph and myself with reliable cars and they did a great job as both our Jordan-Fords were running strongly at the finish. Now we need to find some more power and grip and then hopefully we should soon be challenging for points again.

My weekend got off to a great start again when our football team - The Grand Prix Drivers - drew with Prince Albert's team at his annual charity football match. Michael and I both scored and I missed a second goal when the ball just caught the post and bounced back the wrong way! The game was a great way to relax from the pressures of racing while helping a worthwhile cause.

Later that evening, on Wednesday, I joined Jarno Trulli, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Max Biaggi on board Flavio Briatore's yacht to watch the Champions League final between Juventus and AC Milan. We had a lot of laughs and it was a great way to start the Grand Prix weekend.

When I went out on the track for the first time on Thursday I was immediately impressed with the improvements made to the circuit, and for sure widening Ste. Devote helped us at the start of the Grand Prix. I was relatively happy with my time (2nd fastest) but I also knew that we would have to wait for the first qualifying session later in the day to work out how competitive we were and then work on our strategy for the race. But as ever, the new qualifying regulations were making this decision particularly difficult for all of us, especially at Monaco.

In the free practice session I managed 7th quickest, having gained nearly half a second from the earlier test session, but when it came to first qualifying - and although I had a clean lap - my result wasn't that fantastic. Yes, I finished the session in 7th place, but I was a little disappointed because I felt that I could have made the second row. And, at the time I felt quite optimistic about my chances of getting into the top eight during Saturday's qualifying session.

When it came to Saturday morning's free practice session, I was running 9th quickest - which was quite difficult, because the grip levels on the track were deteriorating rapidly as the track temperature was rising. When it came to warm-up and qualifying, the track temperature had risen considerably and that really affected our Bridgestone tyres.

Unlike Thursday - when the weather was overcast and cooler, and the balance of my Jordan Ford felt quite good - my car felt very nervous on Saturday with a lack of grip, and because of that I was not able to push as hard as I wanted to, and I made a couple of mistakes which dropped me to 12th place. For sure that was disappointing, but I still felt that we had a good race strategy which could result in a points finish.

Thinking of safety improvements for a moment, I was relieved that my former teammate Jenson Button had not suffered any long-term damage after his heavy accident exiting the tunnel. The circuit authorities and the FIA have done a great job with the level of safety now and for sure Jenson benefited from wearing the HANS device. Even so, to sustain 30g - which is what I understand it was - is pretty severe.

Some of the English readers will probably have seen me being interviewed on my boat on their national TV station during the Grand Prix weekend, as the Jordan Ford team was being featured in one of their special highlight programmes. The TV crew joined me for breakfast on "Fizzy" which was moored in the middle of the harbour, just far enough away from the jostling pole sitters on the quay! It was just perfect for me and gave me brief moments to relax and unwind with my friends and family during the weekend.

Everything went well - even Carlotta's first appearance on British TV went well - until we came to disembark! Once you've got used to it, there is no problem, but the interviewer was left hanging for a few moments, holding onto two ropes as he lowered himself off "Fizzy" into the dingy below. I was just waiting for a big splash, but he made it safely in the end.

Grand Prix day at Monaco is just incredible; the grid is packed with more celebrities than at any other Grand Prix and the yachts in the harbour seem to get bigger and better each year. Without doubt, it is a fantastic event and there is nothing that compares to the buzz of excitement that surrounds Monaco at Grand Prix time. Yes, it's not an easy working environment, but what a fantastic showcase for Formula One!

As the pack left the grid at the beginning of the race, I made a great start and managed to get past Jacques Villeneuve for 11th place. I then chased hard after Cristiano da Matta when the Safety Car was brought out after Heinz-Harald Frentzen slammed into the barriers at the swimming pool. The officials managed to clear the debris away pretty quickly and so we were able to resume racing again on lap 5.

During the first two parts of the race my car felt quite nervous and I was still suffering from a lack of grip, however the team did a great job with my two pit-stops. Then, during the final part of the race, the car felt much better and more consistent, which helped me to push harder and find more speed. Unfortunately, it was not sufficient to make any difference to my final result. Now, we need to build on our reliability and try to find some more grip and speed for this weekend's race at Montreal.

After debriefing with my race engineers, once again it was great to be able to join my family and friends on my boat and spend some time with them before flying to England for a two-day test session at Silverstone. We focussed on Cosworth engine development and gearbox work, control systems tests, aerodynamic comparisons and Bridgestone's tyre test programme. Although the weather hampered our progress on Wednesday, I managed to complete 120 laps over the two days - which enabled us to gather some valuable data to help us improve our package for the second half of the season.

Looking towards this weekend's Canadian Grand at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Montreal's Ile Notre Dame, this is another one of my favourite circuits. In the past I have always found it easy to find the limit of the car and the track straight away. There are three or four chicanes where you have to be really quick and I usually find a good rhythm through there to set a good lap time, so hopefully I'll be able to do the same this weekend.

Montreal is also where I scored my first Formula One podium - a third place for Jordan in 1997 - so I am confident that I will be able to score some more points for my team this weekend.

Montreal is also the second fastest circuit after Monza, and Bridgestone have been working flat-out to provide us with a tyre that will give grip yet without overheating, so it will be interesting to see what they have produced. I am sure we will have another great crowd at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - there is always a fantastic atmosphere here and of course the city itself is fantastic.

Ciao a tutti!

Giancarlo Fisichella's column is written exclusively for Atlas F1 by Fisichella himself, with the assistance of friend and freelance journalist Georgie Shaw.
Fisichella's official website can be found at http://www.giancarlofisichella.it.