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“For us, we knew we were a little bit against it starting on the second row” said Mark after finishing third in today’s Monaco Grand Prix, “but I got an absolutely incredible start and it’s sod’s law that it’s the shortest run into the first corner here and neither Seb or I had anywhere to go and we both had to lift.”

“The conditions are changing and the tyres are tricky, so starting on the second row here is not bad,” says Mark after qualifying fourth for F1’s jewel-in-the-crown race, the Monaco Grand Prix. “It’s a long race and a lot of strategy can unfold, so we’ll see what we can do from there.”

Formula One’s Blue Riband event, the Monaco Grand Prix, is the next challenge for Mark on the 2013 World Championship trail.

“We lacked a bit of pace and a bit of range during the race,” says Mark after his fifth place finish in today’s Spanish Grand Prix. “We didn’t have the speed of the Ferraris or Lotus and my race wasn’t helped by a slow getaway from the grid, dropping me from seventh to 12th.”

“I think we got the most out of what we had, particularly as by the first corner I was probably 14th or 15th, so to come back with that result [5th place] was pretty good.”

“Qualifying went well today apart from Q3,” said Mark after qualifying eighth for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix. “I was disappointed with the lap in Q3 and lost a lot of time in the last sector; I’m normally quite strong there, but I was in trouble with the rear tyres.”

“I like this track in Barcelona; it’s high-speed and has a pretty good flow to it,” says Mark on the eve of the Spanish Grand Prix. “It’s a good test of man and machine, and it’s quite fun having the tower on the start-finish straight because you see immediately where you are after a qualifying lap. Everyone will find out how good their car is here, so it’s certainly going to be interesting.”

“I passed a lot of cars early on in that stint and climbed from 14th to second in the space of 13 laps,” explained Mark “but my tyres couldn’t stand the pace and I was forced to pit early.”

“The beginning wasn’t too bad,” says Mark, “but we lost quite a bit of time in the second stint trying to clear people. We went aggressive on the first few out laps, which meant we jumped people, but the tyres didn’t like it.”

I would have like to have got a bit more out of the car in that session and been a bit further up, but seventh with a penalty isn’t the end of the world,” says Mark after qualifying fifth on the road. However, he will face his 200th Grand Prix start from seventh after last weekend’s penalty was applied.