The anti-clockwise course that tests the fitness of the driver

Hispania Racing Team driver Bruno Senna takes us around the Istanbul Park circuit for the Turkish Grand Prix.

Istanbul Park is one of the circuits I'm familiar with on the Formula One circuit, having driven there in GP2. But whatever happens tomorrow, it can't really go much worse than when I was there last time.

I was driving for iSport in the sprint race there in 2008 when I came over a crest, at which point I saw a marshal just about waving a yellow flag - although it looked like he was about to stop waving it. The next thing I know, there's a dog on the road. I swerved left to avoid it as it was running to the right but I couldn't miss it and I hit it with my right tyre. It'd be fair to say that dog unfortunately went into orbit at that particular moment.

Also, it completely and utterly destroyed my car. The tyre deflated, the monocoque broke and the car was totally wrecked. I guess that's what happens when you hit a dog at more than 200kph. If there are no dogs on the circuit, then it really is a great place to drive, but it's really, really tough on the neck. In F1, drivers are used to going around in the same direction at most tracks, but at Turkey we go the other way round on the circuit - anti-clockwise, which only happens at a few races in the season. And that's really hard work on your neck as it's an opposite feeling to what you're used to.

Despite the neck problems, I really love Istanbul Park. For me as a Formula One driver, I have Monaco as number one and that will never change, with Spa [Belgium] just second. But then there's a level just below those two where I'd put Barcelona and Istanbul Park. It's one of those circuits where downforce really helps you, and that's something we lack so that will make the race difficult for Karun [Chandhok, his team-mate] and I. It's also very bumpy, which is another problem, so it will definitely be a tough race. But then, I guess every race is tough for us at the moment.

Turn eight is probably the stand-out feature of the circuit. It's unique in F1 as there's three corners within it. It's one of the blind corners on the circuit - and there are a few - and you have to gamble a bit, go fast and trust your instincts. It's one of three main places to overtake at the circuit and, if you get your line wrong, you're likely to be overtaken by the car behind you here. That's the same with turn one, which is another blind corner. It's blind because it's downhill and you're not very well sighted. It's challenging but good fun as you pull around to the left.

The main remaining overtaking spot is at turn 12, maybe the best chance to overtake - although I don't think I'll be doing a lot of that - on the whole circuit. That's the end of the back straight and your chances are improved if you brake late, get a tow from the car in front and get past. As for the rest of the circuit, it's pretty quick throughout. Turn two, for example, isn't really a corner at all as you virtually go flat out. Turn three, though, is blind and tight, while turn four needs a bit of concentration and turn five is all about maintaining your speed and the driving line.

If you get the right line it prepares you perfectly for the quick turn six and also uphill to turn seven, where there is plenty of grip. Next comes the apex before a slippery turn nine, followed by the longest straight on the circuit. Turns 10 and 11 are no more than kinks in a long straight before three tight corners - 12, 13 and 14 at the end - which open up to the main straight. Even if you don't hit a dog after a race here in Turkey, you feel physically and mentally so tired. It's really draining on the body - or at least it was in GP2 - and that was going slower and for less laps. It will be very, very tough on the body.

So the fittest drivers will be the ones to do best here, plus those that are willing to take the gambles on a very wide track where there should be plenty of wheel-to-wheel racing. At Hispania, myself and Karun have not been as quick as we would have liked, and here we'll probably spend more time looking in our mirrors at the cars about to overtake us. It's not a nice feeling being overtaken, but that's life and we'll still have fun.