MAX Chilton remains upbeat as he prepares to start his first GP2 season in Barcelona this weekend.

Stepping up from British Formula Three, in which he finished fourth overall for Carlin last year, Chilton is now competing with Tiago Monteiro's Ocean Racing Technology.

With older brother Tom having proved his pace in the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch last weekend where he cheered his brother to victory, younger sibling Max, who celebrated his 18th birthday two weeks ago, is finalising preparations ahead the GP2 season.

"It's a pretty big step as F3 is quick and you get the g-force but it hasn't got the power to have the same speed and hasn't got the same size of tyres; the downforce is a third of what GP2 is, so it's a big step but I'm getting there, slowly but surely."

Norwood Hill-based Chilton is also pleased with the homely feel of the Ocean squad. "I'm getting on well with my team-mate Fabio (Leimer) and it's a pretty good, friendly team, actually...everybody says every team is friendly but this is pretty friendly - they also all speak fairly good English, so it helps!"

Chilton, who had a baptism of fire in the GP2 Asia series in the winter, admits that he has now encountered new challenges - faced only in international teams - such as language barriers.

"Sometimes it can be a problem when you're trying to comment or something, if they get it the wrong way or don't fully understand what you're saying," he continued.

"I've had it a few times; the hardest bit is over the radio, we're having problems over the radio understanding what he's saying - I've told them to talk really slowly!"

With the new campaign set to begin at the Circuit de Catalunya at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend Chilton, one of the most promising drivers on the grid, is confident that reliability should not be an issue.