De Palo says confidence is still high heading to Monte Carlo despite a tricky Round 1

Matteo De Palo remains confident in his chances of success in Monaco coming from a tricky Round 1 in Melbourne.

The TRIDENT rookie had looked strong at Albert Park and was in the top five after the first set of push laps in Qualifying.

However, a crash left De Palo starting both races at the back of the field, with the Italian leaving Australia without any points.

Speaking ahead of last week’s in-season test, the 18-year-old was still feeling upbeat about his and the team’s performance.

“It wasn’t a good weekend for us,” said De Palo. “It was going pretty well, and then we had that issue in quali that basically destroyed our weekend.

“The pace was looking really good. After the first push lap we were already in the top five and I think we could have just got better because we were still learning the track and getting up to speed.

“The pace in the races was really good, so it was a shame to not close the weekend out like we wanted, but we took the positives. So, obviously, the pace is there, both in Quali and the race.

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“So we will be more focused on not letting something bad happen in the next race weekends that can destroy all the work that we did. The fact that there's pace gives me a lot of confidence going into a really, really key part of the season now with all these rounds to come.”

“For sure we’re going to Monaco stronger. Already we have done a lot of preparation, so let's see how it goes. We are really confident of what we can do.”

Looking ahead to Monaco, de Palo expressed the importance of the two days of running in Spielberg to get him and the rest of his rivals up to speed.

The TRIDENT driver says it was important so that they can hit the ground running in Monte Carlo, and that they can be on the limit in Free Practice.

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“Of course, I haven't been driving since Melbourne,” he continued. “So it will be really important to start really well on the first day to be up to speed. So, in Monaco, already in Free Practice, we can push.

“We've been working a lot at the gym, preparing with the documents for Monaco. We did a lot of days in the athletic centre to prepare in gym, and we did training camps. So, for sure, it's better than ever.”