Bahrain Grand Prix - team and driver preview quotes

FIA Thursday Press Conference - Bahrain

Drivers: Timo Glock (Toyota), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), Nelson Piquet (Renault), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) Q: Different fortunes for many of you. For three of you not a very good start to the season. For one of you a slightly extraordinary start. Timo, let’s start with the good news. Three points scores, two of them from the pit lane. What are your feelings about the start to the season? Timo Glock: Yeah, it was not a bad start, I would say. Like you say two times from the pit lane. I didn’t really expect the points but we had a strong race in Melbourne and Malaysia as well with the right tyre choice. We did everything right in the race and again in Shanghai in wet conditions we had quite a good pace and two times from the back of the field after the start behind the safety car and after I damaged the front wing I had to go in the pit. I think I was again behind the whole field and to come into the points again was good and we have to be satisfied with it. Q: Kimi, you qualify in the top 10 but then it all seems to go away from you. A best of 10th so far. What are your feelings about it so far? Kimi Raikkonen: I mean definitely not what we wanted or what I wanted either but we don’t have the speed right now in the car unfortunately. We are going to get some new parts at the next race but this race probably can be a bit difficult again. Hopefully the testing here helps a bit and it will be slightly better for us but I don’t know yet. We need to wait and see. Q: Robert, a similarly disappointing start. Is it reliability or performance? Robert Kubica: I think both of them. A bit of bad luck as well, I would say, in the first three races of the season. Not an ideal start of the year but that is how it is and we hope to get better soon. Bahrain will be difficult but for sure we hope for some points. Q: Nelson, the same thing with you. You have qualified each time 17th but still hoping to get into the points. Nelson Piquet: Yeah, for sure. I think this weekend should be a big weekend for both of us and the team because we have the new diffusers and obviously it is going to be a dry weekend, so we are not going to have any problems. We are really going to be able to show our new pace of the car. I think hopefully both cars can score points and we can start from zero here again. Q: Are you worried about your future or do you think that is going to be the magic ingredient? NP: I think it has been a crazy start to the year. Two races in the wet and in Australia, unfortunately, we were going to finish quite well and I had a little brake failure. Qualifying is not very good and I am struggling a little bit to get the performance out of the first lap. But I think obviously we had a tough car fighting between from 10th to 15th over there was very tight. Now with the new diffuser it should be much easier to be running closer to the top 10. It is a different story when you are running there, you get into less problems and this track should suit us quite well. Q: And they always seem to give you a lot of fuel as well just to make things a little bit more difficult. NP: Yeah, but that’s what happens when you don’t have a very good position at the beginning of the race. That’s always a risk you have to take to try to get lucky with the safety car or get lucky because of the weather or the cars around you are going to be lighter and overtake them when they go into the pits. But the important thing is to qualify closer to the front and then you can have a better strategy for the race. Q: Robert, you qualified on pole here last year and finished third. And you have tested here as well. Does that make for anything? RK: Well, as you mention we have a good memory from here. Although we finished third it couldn’t be better but we were right behind two Ferraris which were very strong here last year. Today’s situation is a bit different for both of the teams, for us and for Ferrari. We are not as strong as we were. This situation makes it more difficult for the coming weekend. We have been testing here. I only drove one day because on two days I stopped because of the sand storm. It can be quite an advantage, a small advantage, but I am not expecting miracles because we were strong here last year and we have been testing, we will be mega. Q: What about KERS? You tried that in China. Are you going to try that again? Did you feel it was an advantage? RK: Yeah, I will use KERS tomorrow. Q: And then see what happens for the rest of the weekend? RK: Yeah, the plan is to run it through all the weekend. Q: And how did you feel? You felt it was an advantage obviously? RK: Well, if I felt it was an advantage in China I would have used it the whole weekend. As you know I removed it but the result in China on Saturday was not what I was expecting. It is quite difficult for myself to use it but I hope in Bahrain I will face less problems with the balance and weight distribution issues. Q: Kimi, same thing. When are you likely to be using it again? KR: I don’t use it tomorrow. The other car will run it and then we will make the decision which way we go. We either take it and use it if we don’t have any issues with it and we will put it also in my car but really we want to look a little bit and compare the two cars with and without and see a little difference. That’s our main thing tomorrow. Q: You have never seemed to be a massive fan of KERS. KR: It is probably faster in quite a few places but the car was not too bad the last race in qualifying. I think we could have been faster even there but we had an issue with it. It is not much different driving with or without it for us. Q: The diffuser modifications. When would you expect to get that? KR: Hopefully we will have the new parts for the next race in Barcelona. Q: You have been second and third here in the past and you tested here as well, so are you feeling a little bit more confident about this? KR: Like I said, hopefully the testing at the beginning of this year will help us this week. It has usually been okay for us. Of course we are not in the position we were the last few years right now but I still think we should have a better chance here than maybe at some previous races. Q: Timo, Toyota tested here. Your feelings about here? TG: Yeah, we have to wait and see. The test we did here was quite different to the conditions we have now. It is much warmer. This will be one point for tomorrow to see where the car is. We are still missing a little bit with the car we had in the winter tests. The winter tests were pretty consistent. Every time we went out in the car it didn’t really have any problems with the set-up and now over a race weekend when we start on a Friday on a green track it is a bit tricky with the car and we have to try and find a way to get it more consistent over the weekend and have a stronger start. A good qualifying is important to start more in the top 10, top five, to be able to fight for the podium. Q: In terms of the development race are you happy with the pace of that and are you now looking to use KERS as well? TG: No, so far at the moment we are not planning to use KERS but we have to be careful in terms of development. We have to be stronger now I think even than in the winter time to keep that advantage against the other teams. Everybody will come up with a new aero package in Barcelona and we have to fight for that position where we are at the moment. For me Red Bull made quite a big step in China. They were really quick and we have to fight that we can stay in that position where we are at the moment. QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR Q: (Joris Fioriti - AFP) You were just talking about the Red Bull performance in China. Were you surprised by it? TG: For me they were quite strong already at the tests and at the end they developed from race to race. The race in Australia showed already the pace. Sebastian (Vettel) was in P2 in the race and in Malaysia as well they were quick, so for me it is not a big surprise but I think they made a little step or they were maybe just a little bit better sorted out. The temperatures in Shanghai were quite cold compared to the other races and maybe that is part of the difference but for me they looked strong in testing. Q: Kimi? KR: Yeah, I mean they have been looking fast every race. Like Timo said they were a bit stronger in the last race. I don’t know if they got some new parts or not but they have definitely been strong all year. Q: Robert? RK: Same. Q: Nelson? NP: Hopefully they won’t be too quick when they get the new parts. Otherwise that is going to make our life a lot more difficult. Q: (Lukasz Ceglinski - Gazeta Wyborscza) Robert, Renault, McLaren and even Force India have had some significant updates on their package. You will basically drive the same car as in Australia. Do you feel frustrated about that? RK: Not really. This is the reality, that we didn’t get any big upgrades until now and we will not get any here as well, just a few really small ones. Somehow we have seen this last year, I’m pretty sure, so it’s not really frustration, this is the situation. We are waiting for the Barcelona package which will probably be a big step forward, we hope so, but as you know, everybody else is working as well. Everybody is expecting to move forward in Barcelona with their new aero packages, everyone is working, so we have to see how we will be compared to them in Barcelona. Q: (Bill Johnson - The National) Principally to you, Kimi: are you surprised at those who are making the early running in this season’s drivers’ championship and if so do you welcome the so-called new kids on the block getting onto the podium that you used to regard as your own territory? KR: It’s normal for them to be there. I don’t think that they are new in Formula One. It’s not a big surprise. Those teams were fast in the winter testing. We are missing speed right now. Hopefully we can turn it around pretty quickly, I expect at the next race. They are welcome. For sure we would rather be there but right now we are not in a position to fight for those positions, so we just need to make the best (performance) as we can here and then hopefully get back to where we should be in the next race. Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News) For all of you: we’ve had four races in five weeks. In the past you would all be going testing next week. Are you looking forward to the time off or would you prefer to be going off and trying lots of news parts? KR: When you have a situation like the one we are in, it would probably be nice to try the new parts before the race but that’s how it is, we’re having some time off, so we go to the next race and sort it out there. TG: In the end, we have to wait for Barcelona as Kimi said, to test the new parts on Friday in free practice but it’s not an easy situation because when you get new parts for the race weekend and you have to try them while the track is evolving it’s quite tricky to sort that out but at the end we all have to deal with it, it’s all the same. The time off after the first four races is not too bad. I think everybody has travelled quite a lot. The mechanics have had a hard life as well and I think everybody is happy to have a couple of days off. RK: In our situation it would be good to have days of testing, although you have to have something new to test otherwise it doesn’t make sense. I think that it would be good, in our situation, to have a couple of days running at some track. NP: I’ve had four weekends of races and one weekend of roadshow, so I’ve had five busy weeks but obviously if I could test it would be good, the same for everybody, no testing, so one week’s rest a little bit. Q: Robert, Kimi, does it mean you will probably go to the factory and go through everything and maybe some simulation? RK: We go to the factory, of course, but I think the problem for everybody is known, so you don’t need additional input from the driver. We don’t have simulators, so there will be no simulation but of course we try to help the team as much as we can from the driver point of view but as I said, I think the problem is known by everybody and there is no need for additional meetings or things like that. KR: Similar story, all the people are working one hundred per cent, they know what they’re doing. It’s more the time that’s against us than anything else. I have some other work to do anyhow. I don’t know if I will go to the factory or not. If they need me, yes, but people know what they’re doing. We usually plan the meetings if we need something but we are here and we always discuss all those things, so it probably won’t be necessary to go there. Q: (Sarah Holt) Kimi, do you feel under extra pressure, personally or from within Ferrari, to score points for the team or for yourself this weekend? KR: For sure I want to score points but I don’t feel any pressure. We try to do our best every time and unfortunately we haven’t managed to score any points so far. We are all one team and we all don’t feel so good when we have bad races but that’s how it is right now unfortunately. We do the best that we can here and hopefully we get some points. Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Kimi, can you believe you are in this position after three races without a point compared to 18 months ago when you were World Champion? KR: Things change quickly in Formula One, we know that. There are new rules. Of course we had pretty good winter testing. We probably saw in the last test that we were not where we wanted to be, exactly, but it hasn’t been the start of the season that we were looking for as a team but we just need to work harder and improve the situation and get back to where we want to be. We know that we can do it but it takes a while. That’s unfortunately the situation where we are. Q: (Joris Fioriti - AFP) Do you think you are far away from Red Bull and Brawn GP? TG: For me, it looks like it’s a bit track dependent. We were quite strong in Malaysia and in Shanghai we struggled a bit, so for me, behind Brawn and maybe the gap to Brawn is slightly bigger, slightly lower depending on the track, but for me they look quite strong in Q3 in China as well with a lot of fuel on board. After Brawn, I think it’s always track dependent who is quicker. KR: We are probably one second behind them, so I think it depends a bit from circuit to circuit but that’s more or less where we are and we know that, so we are aiming to catch them up and of course, when you’re once behind, it’s not easy because everybody is also going forward, so it’s hard to catch up completely but for sure we are going to get much closer next race. RK: I think the gap is similar to Ferrari as we have seen in the last three races, we’ve been close together, sometimes in front, sometimes behind them, so I think the gap is very similar as Kimi mentioned. NP: Hopefully with the new aero package that we have here we can fight them. Maybe this track is a bit different compared to China but I think we’re going to be much closer than we were but we should be with them. Q: (Alan Baldwin - Reuters) Can I ask Robert a similar question to the one that Kimi was asked regarding your position here because this time last year you had a reasonable chance of winning, you were on pole. You come here with three races gone and you’re yet to score points. Would you have believed that this time last year, that you would be four races into the championship and still looking for that? RK: Of course it’s difficult to predict what will happen in Formula One but we have seen today’s situation is completely different to last year. There are new teams which are very strong. There are big teams in the past which are now struggling. This is the reality. There is nothing to panic about. We have to keep working, keep improving and stay calm and everybody will be going in the same direction to get back on the track where we would like to be with our goals, with our targets, as a team, as a driver. The situation is not the best, it’s not ideal but we have to take it step by step, move forward and try to catch the front runners.

Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen: "another difficult weekend" Unfortunately this was another difficult weekend for us. We didn't gain any points in China either, because reliability let us down again. Friday was very difficult. The car's set up was not bad, but we simply didn't have enough downforce compared to the others. On Saturday some aerodynamic updates, Felipe had the day before, were added also to my car. Therefore the qualifying went slightly better than we had expected. Unfortunately we opted not to use the KERS due to safety reasons, which had an impact on the performance in terms of a couple of tenths of a second. During the race I got stuck behind slower cars several times; that's when a little bit of extra performance would have helped. It seems as if things never go the right way in the rain, but I still like driving in wet weather: it's obvious that when grip and downforce are missing things are difficult. We're without points, which doesn't make life easy for us. But we've already been in much more difficult situations. The Team has to stay focused and give it everything. There will be several updates at Barcelona and after this race we've got to understand where we are compared to the others. The upcoming weekend we're in Bahrain, where we had several tests during the winter. The temperatures should be much higher here compared to the test sessions. Ferrari has won the races in the last two years here at the Sakhir circuit, but honestly I don't think it's possible this time. If we manage to have a flawless weekend this time, we can gain points and maybe even a place on the podium. Finally I want to say that I'm glad that Sebastian won the Chinese GP. He's a nice guy and he drove a great race. He deserved this success.

Ferrari

This year's championship seems to be moving along at a very fast pace, as after this Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, almost a quarter of the season (four out of the seventeen races) will have been completed in the space of one month. The cars, equipment and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro personnel have all transferred from Shanghai to the Sakhir International Circuit, both venues being among the most modern facilities on the calendar. This year sees the sixth running of this race, which has been won three times by Ferrari, with Michael Schumacher at the 2004 inaugural event and for the last two years by Felipe Massa. Bahrain signified the arrival of Formula 1 in the Middle East and this year it is only the first visit to the area, as the teams return to this part of the world for the season finale at the new Abu Dhabi circuit. With support for the Scuderia coming from Mubadala and Etihad, this is an important weekend for Ferrari. The team is preparing for the Bahrain Grand Prix in more or less the same condition in which it tackled last Sunday's race in China, as no new components will be on the cars this week. It will be the last time the F60 is seen in this configuration as work is progressing back in Maranello so that a new aero package, including a double diffuser, should be available when the series makes its first visit to Europe, with the Spanish Grand Prix. "We have endured a very difficult start to the season," admitted Team Principal Stefano Domenicali. "We knew we would suffer in China and in all probability, we will be suffering again here this weekend. After that, it is to be hoped that we will make a step forward as from the Spanish Grand Prix, even allowing for the fact that we cannot expect those teams currently ahead of us to wait for us to catch up and they too will be developing their cars further. However, the most important point is that the entire team and everyone at Maranello, is working very hard to extricate itself from this situation as soon as possible. We have no points yet and so the gap to the leaders is a big one, but I want to make it very clear that we have absolutely not given up fighting for this year's championship titles. And why should we, when theoretically there are still 252 points available this season per team. Development will be ongoing, as it is every year and this will continue whatever the results over the next few races. Even if the situation was worse than this, we still would not give up because this is absolutely not part of the Ferrari philosophy and, with the same group of people we have now, we have fought back from situations like this, from situations which the outside world saw as impossible. The same group of people have won three of the last four titles available over the past two years." As a team, the Scuderia worked well in Shanghai, taking the difficult decision to run without the KERS system, which was the correct decision as there were concerns about the safety of running it and safety has to be the number one priority. In Maranello this week, engineers are replicating the conditions that affected the KERS system in Malaysia and China, to solve the problem. Engineers will continue this task through to Thursday, when a final decision will be taken regarding running KERS in Bahrain. The F60 is very well suited to running the energy recovery system, especially in terms of car balance and specifically for Felipe Massa, for whom there is less of a weight handicap. Therefore, everything will be done in the next few days to get the KERS validated again, so that the car can benefit from the very definite performance advantage it confers. This weekend will not be Ferrari's first visit of the year to the Sakhir circuit, as it tested here in February when, despite losing a couple of days to sandstorms, it acquired valuable data about how the "new rules" car copes with the demands of this track on slick tyres. However, such has been the pace of development since that time, the figures in the notebooks cannot be regarded as an accurate guide of what to expect when free practice begins on Friday. Apart from anything else, temperatures are expected to be much higher than in February. The results of the Chinese Grand Prix threw up some interesting points, not counting the fact that Red Bull Racing took a one-two: the previously all conquering Brawn team seemed to have lost some of its advantage and so too did the Toyota team which had been the other major force at the opening two rounds. "The lesson to be learned from this is that it is far too early to draw conclusions about how the season will evolve," concluded Domenicali. "That is further reason for Ferrari not to give up on chasing its aim of winning the titles."

Force India

Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India 2008 Qualifying - 18th, 2008 Race - 12th “I feel quite positive about Bahrain. We have some new parts coming through from the factory and I hope they will be an improvement in overall pace. We’ve still got some way to go to be able to race for points, but at least this will keep us competitive. As with China, we’ve got to focus on getting to the end and seeing where we are.” Adrian Sutil, Force India 2008 Qualifying - 20th, 2008 Race - 19th “The team should be proud of the race we had and the performance we showed in China. Of course I am disappointed we didn’t get the ultimate result, but you have to get over it as there is always the next race. For sure we deserved the points, but we’re not giving up as there are always other chances. We’ve refocused and are now looking forward to Bahrain, which is a race I enjoy - there’s something very different about racing in the desert. The goals for Bahrain are really going to be the same as for China. For sure I want to finish the job, but I think getting points here will be very difficult. I want to keep the reliability record we have shown so far this year - it’s my best start to a season since I came into F1 in 2007 and I want to maintain this finish rate. The new parts we have coming through for this race should keep us close to the others and I hope we will be able to have a good, competitive race, but we need to focus on our own performance and try to improve as much as possible so when we get to Europe we can really be fighting.” Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India chairman and team principal “We are planning to introduce a significant aerodynamic upgrade for the Bahrain Grand Prix, including a new floor and an interim diffuser. Amongst other items, we also plan to use new auxiliary wings on the front wing and reprofiled sidepods to incorporate the amended rear end. We have been planning this upgrade since the debut of the VJM02 as part of our scheduled aerodynamic cycle and it will represent a good step forward for the team. Although we nevertheless expect other teams to have moved forward as well, we hope this will keep us racing with the rest of the field. As usual, we know points are going to be very difficult to achieve and we should not set this as a goal for Bahrain. Yes, Adrian had a very strong race in China and very nearly achieved our ultimate goal far earlier than anyone could have expected, but we should not look on the Chinese Grand Prix as indicative of our general form. Instead, we need to focus once more on reliability and consistency and look to be there if circumstances allow.” Dominic Harlow, Force India chief race engineer “Bahrain will be the third Tilke-built track in succession and, as such, will feature the familiar long straights followed by tight hairpin corners. As with Malaysia and China it will call for a compromise in set-up with the need for speed on the straights tempered by the necessary downforce levels for good traction through the corners. The KERS system could also play a part here more than we’ve seen anywhere else so far. We are bringing some upgrades in time for this event having brought a few things forward ahead of our return to Europe, allowing us to apply some further development in time for Spain. Of course what is unique about Bahrain is the desert location, and depending on the winds the dust that they carry can wreak havoc with grip levels and areas of the car that are not adequately protected.”

McLaren

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren 2008 Qualifying - 3rd, 2008 Race - 13th “I’m looking forward to Bahrain. It’s a circuit I enjoy and I think it should be good for us - the nature of the circuit, the long straights and the heavy braking zones mean it is a theoretically strong place for KERS. In fact, it’s got the highest brake-wear of the season so far, so it will be interesting to see how well KERS can be exploited around the lap. Most importantly, we seem to have a solid direction within the team - all our upgrades invariably bring a lap time improvement and our direction on set-up and strategy shows what a strong group we still are. I still think we are several races away from being truly competitive but a straightforward race at Bahrain would give us a very good opportunity to accurately assess where we sit among our rivals.” Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren 2008 Qualifying - 5th, 2008 Race - 5th “There’s a real mix of corners at the Bahrain circuit and the long straights followed by tighter corners mean it’s a good place for overtaking. It’s quite tricky to find the right set-up, it’s a medium downforce circuit so that always brings a compromise. And the changing wind conditions, the winds here can be quite strong, also make it harder to get the car working over the whole weekend. Still, it’s a circuit you have to attack to get a good time - I really enjoy the high-speed esses and uphill sweeps around the back of the circuit. I’m looking forward to another strong weekend and the opportunity to put some more points on the board.” Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal “The points we scored in China were encouraging because they showed that, even without a fully competitive car, we have lost none of our ability to attack over a race weekend and to maximize every opportunity that comes our way. Until our package reaches full competitiveness, that must remain our aim for the Bahrain weekend. Once again, we will introduce a series of upgrades to MP4-24 and remain optimistic that they will once again deliver a further performance improvement. Also, as the home of one of our primary shareholders, it is a particularly special race for everyone within the team and we are made to feel very welcome by our Bahraini hosts.” Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport vice-president “We are looking forward to the second back to back race this season after the first two grands prix within eight days in Melbourne and Sepang. This schedule with four races within five weeks, is a very tough challenge for everybody involved in Formula One. Our performance in dry conditions looked a step better in Shanghai than at the two races before and our aim is to continue in this direction. Anyway - we cannot expect miracles in Bahrain and everybody in the team is absolutely aware of the fact that we have to work day and night in order to come back to the top of the field. We lost already six points in Australia by our own faults and also in Malaysia we should have scored more than one point. In China we achieved for the first time what was achievable, but fifth and sixth places cannot be the target for the team starting with numbers 1 and 2 on their cars. After the first four flyaway races we have to deliver presentable progress in the next four races in Europe. However, it will be very challenging to move into the top three of the team ranking in such a short time.”

Brawn GP

Jenson Button, Brawn GP 2008 Qualifying - 9th, 2008 Race - DNF “Bahrain is always one of my favourite races on the calendar as I love the country and the circuit has some great fast flowing sections which really suit my driving style and allow you to push the car to its limits. It's a good circuit for overtaking, particularly at Turn One after the long straight where you brake very hard from over 300 km/h in seventh gear down to first gear. People tend to brake surprisingly early here so you can make up crucial ground if you are brave. Confidence under braking is the key to a quick lap. You have to believe in the car's performance and have full confidence that you can stop effectively." Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP 2008 Qualifying - 12th, 2008 Race - 11th "Bahrain is not a particularly quick track but it is an interesting one from a driver's perspective. From a technical point of view, braking and traction are crucial and you need good straightline speed to maximise the long straights so the strength of our Mercedes-Benz engine will prove a real advantage here. It can turn very windy, particularly in the afternoon, which causes sand to be blown onto the track affecting the grip levels. This can be a particular challenge in qualifying when everyone is trying to be out on track at the last minute when the circuit is cleanest. The last two race weekends have turned out to be really eventful with the weather affecting the outcome in Malaysia and China but hopefully we can expect a dry race here in Bahrain this weekend." Ross Brawn, team principal "As the first four Grands Prix take place over just a five-week period, it has been an intense and demanding start to the season for the Brawn GP team. Australia, Malaysia and China produced some fantastic racing and I am very pleased with how the team responded to the challenges that we have faced. This was particularly the case in China last weekend where the team and the drivers did an excellent job. Although we were not able to challenge for the victory in the dramatic and unexpectedly wet conditions, we consolidated our championship position with two strong points-scoring results. Looking ahead to the fourth race on the season in Bahrain this weekend, we are expecting a dry weekend which will allow us to really put the BGP001 through its paces and assess our performance. The track characteristics of the Bahrain International Circuit should suit our car and we do not expect any concerns from the high ambient and track temperatures."

Renault

Fernando Alonso, Renault 2008 Qualifying - 10th, 2008 Race - 10th “Bahrain is a challenging circuit and I have some good memories of my wins there in 2005 and 2006 with Renault. Because of the circuit's location, it can get quite dusty and the conditions change from lap to lap so you need to be careful, but there are still some good overtaking opportunities, especially into Turn One and Turn Four. It's one of the most demanding circuits on the brakes with lots of big braking zones and so we will look at the wear rates on Friday to make sure we don't have any problems in the race. Hopefully we can repeat the performance we showed in China so that we can reach Q3 and fight for points in the race. It's still an early stage in the year and already the team has made incredible progress, which gives me the belief that we can still fight for the championship. We will have more updates when we get back to Europe, but at this stage in the year it's important that we score as many points as possible at each race so we can be in the fight at the end of the season.” Nelson Piquet, Renault 2008 Qualifying - 14th, 2008 Race - DNF “If I'm honest it's not one of my favourite circuits although there are exciting parts of the lap such as Turns Five and Six. However, the location means that the track surface is always pretty dusty, especially off-line and so you can't afford to make a mistake and run wide without losing a lot of time. It's also one of the hotter races of the year so it's quite physically demanding, although it's dry heat rather than the humidity you get in Malaysia. I really need to make sure I qualify well so that I can pick a good strategy for the race. If we get the new parts on my car in time for this weekend then I think reaching Q3 will be possible, which will put me in a good position to score points in the race. The team is working hard to develop the car and I'm sure we will be more competitive in Bahrain where I will be ready to take any opportunity that comes my way.” Bob Bell, technical director “I think we can be quite confident that we can repeat the sort of performance we showed in China during qualifying as we now have the basic pace in the car. And if we have a dry race, I'm confident that we can bring home the points from the race to match our qualifying performance. Nelson will have the new diffuser in time for Bahrain. It simply wasn't possible to make two in time for China last weekend. I think that we did a great job to get one out to China. We will consider the merits of KERS on a race by race because it's not a system that is categorically quicker at every track. It depends on the nature of the circuit and we will continue to assess it on a race by race basis.” Jenson Button, Brawn GP 2008 Qualifying - 9th, 2008 Race - DNF “Bahrain is always one of my favourite races on the calendar as I love the country and the circuit has some great fast flowing sections which really suit my driving style and allow you to push the car to its limits. It's a good circuit for overtaking, particularly at Turn One after the long straight where you brake very hard from over 300 km/h in seventh gear down to first gear. People tend to brake surprisingly early here so you can make up crucial ground if you are brave. Confidence under braking is the key to a quick lap. You have to believe in the car's performance and have full confidence that you can stop effectively."

Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa: "I've not given up hope" Dubai, 21th April 2009 - The days of putting my thoughts down after each race and talking about winning and being on the podium seem to be a long time ago at the moment and honestly, going over each race is currently more of a pain than a pleasure. But I've not given up hope and there were some bright moments in a very dark and wet Chinese weekend. In Shanghai, we still were not competitive enough and we had also taken the decision to run without KERS which could have been more of a handicap, but in the rain on Sunday, we were very strong. I was able to make up several places and I was running at a pace similar to the guys at the front of the field. That was the plus side, but on the minus side, reliability let us down again and I was unable to finish the race. Back at the factory, we continue to push very hard to overcome these reliability problems. The electrical fault that forced me to stop at the side of the track was, once again, a failure we had never seen before. It has to be said that luck doesn't seem to be on our side at the moment, as it was a very small and stupid problem that made the car stop, because it was simply a faulty reading within the on board data that indicated to the control unit that the throttle should be shut down. So, even though there was actually nothing wrong, the car's computer decided to shut down the throttle and I had to park it. After Malaysia, we restructured the race team, with Chris Dyer, our head of race engineering, taking on more responsibility trackside and in China this worked well. Chris is very calm and patient when it comes to making decisions. Although, in reality, once we had decided I was on a one-stop strategy for the race, there were not that many decisions to make on my car. So, it is too early to say how the new organisation will work out and we must wait and see what happens in more complex race situations. I am sure Chris will do a good job. Because of problems in Malaysia, we opted not to use the KERS and, given that we had a wet race, this had less of a negative impact on our performance than if it had been dry. But, even in the rain, KERS could have been useful down the straights. At the time of writing, I am not entirely sure whether or not we will have it in Bahrain. Back in the factory, a great deal of work has gone into working on the system since the race in Sepang, so I am hopeful it can help us in this race. Currently, I am in Dubai, and tomorrow, I am making a stop in Abu Dhabi, attending events for Mubadala and Etihad, before arriving in Bahrain on Wednesday night. I have always gone well at the Sakhir circuit, winning for the last two years, so I hope this is a good sign. In more practical terms, we tested here during the winter and the car was not too bad to be honest and the tyres seemed to suit the package we have. I really do expect to be more competitive, especially if we have KERS, as it should be a significant advantage at this track. I hope that finally we can make life difficult for the other teams and fight for a very good result. I am very motivated, despite the difficult times until now. But change must come and hopefully that will start this weekend. It should be much hotter than we are used to here, but I don't think that should be a problem to deal with.

Bridgestone

Bridgestone will participate in its fourth grand prix in five weeks when the medium and super soft compound Potenza slick tyres are used at this weekend's Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, held on 24-26 April. The allocation for Bahrain is the same as used in the Australian and Chinese races. This is the first time that a Bridgestone super soft compound has been used at the 5.41 km circuit which features a diverse mix of 15 turns. Bahrain is one of the toughest circuits on brakes visited during the course of the season, and the weather conditions are usually hot and dry. The desert location of the track means that the track surface often has sand on it at the start of the race weekend, with track grip improving as the surface is cleaned by the cars running. Traction is crucial for finding a good lap time in Bahrain, due to its layout of many tight corners leading to short straights. Tyre management skills of teams and drivers will be under scrutiny, as the high traction demands create additional heat in the tyres in what is already likely to be hot conditions. Bridgestone's tyres will also be seen in action over this weekend for the sixth and final round of the GP2 Asia Series. Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, said: What are the challenges of Bahrain? "Bahrain is a technically interesting circuit. The layout means a lot of braking and a lot of accelerating out of low speed corners. Maximising traction out of the corners is the key to a good lap time, but if a car has less than ideal traction, additional unwanted heat can be created, and this will make matters more difficult for competitors. There is a lot of heavy braking here too, and it will be interesting to see how the different braking characteristics between the KERS and non-KERS cars affects lap times, and also the racing." How much of a challenge should the tyre allocation be in Bahrain? "Tyre management and minimising unnecessary tyre heat in what could be very hot conditions are very important considerations here. We have the medium and super soft tyres and we expect the medium tyre to be very durable. The super soft should present more of a challenge in terms of durability than the medium, however the data from the Bahrain pre-season tests show that this tyre can be managed well on this track if the correct set-up is found." Stats & Facts Number & Spec of tyres brought to Bahrain 1800 (Medium & super soft dry, intermediate/wets) Pole position time 2008: 1min 33.096secs (Kubica) Fastest race lap 2008: 1min 33.193secs (Kovalainen) Top three 2008: Massa, Raikkonen, Kubica

Red Bull

A couple of days after our one-two finish in China, we quizzed Red Bull Racing's chief technical officer, Adrian Newey on the significance of this maiden victory. Adrian, a couple of days later, how does it feel? AN: Waking up on a Monday morning with a one-two always puts a smile on your face. The result is a great confidence boost for everyone at the factory knowing we can put a car on the grid that can finish first and second, and do so from the front, not inheriting the result because of others having problems. It really is a great reward for all the hard work put in, not just by ourselves, but also by Renault and all our other technical partners. Where did you watch the race? AN: I watched it in my kitchen at home, part of the time with my wife Marigold. But she found it too stressful watching with me and went off to another room, later my daughter joined me. Within a few minutes of the finish our neighbours came round and, despite the early hour, we had a celebratory drink. It would have been nice to have been in China, but I'm just very pleased for everyone that we got the result we deserved. With technical problems earlier in the weekend, were you worried the cars might not get to the flag? AN: We were reasonably confident that we'd fixed what appeared to be a problem with a batch of drive shaft parts. But, you cannot take reliability for granted, so the last half hour of the race seemed to last forever! How has the RB5 evolved since the start of the season? AN: We had an aero-update, consisting of a new diffuser and modified front wing for the final pre-Melbourne test, which brought a reasonable step in performance. Then, for China we had further new parts that brought a small performance gain. In dry qualifying, we were behind the Brawns in Melbourne and Malaysia, but much closer in China, looking at fuel- corrected lap times. Our set-up in China was pretty similar to that in Malaysia, so the rest of the performance might be circuit specific, when you are looking at gaps of just a few tenths, as has been the case between McLaren and Ferrari for example in past years. The China result came without a double-diffuser, so is this issue less important than people think? AN: There is no doubt that a double-diffuser does give performance. How much performance depends on how you interpret the regulations and how you adapt it to suit your own car, so that some teams will get more out of it than others. It is worth doing for everyone on the grid. Our challenge is to adapt one to work on our car. When will the RB5 appear with a double diffuser? AN: As has been speculated, given the design of RB5, it's not the easiest task getting it to fit the car and while we work on this one item, we also need to keep working on the general development of the car, to ensure we don't fall behind in other areas. The unique feature of the Red Bull cars is the pullrod rear suspension, which is a good solution when you don't have a double-diffuser. But getting it to work with the diffuser will be more difficult. We won't have a double-diffuser before Monaco. Looking at the first three races, what has struck you about them? AN: The most obvious change is just how different the grid order is compared to the last few seasons. The big teams like Ferrari, BMW and McLaren are currently on the back foot, but they won't stay there of course. I think that's refreshing and healthy for Formula One. It creates more interest, seeing different teams and drivers at the front. If this weekend in Bahrain is completely dry, can we expect to see the current series leaders back out in front? AN: It's difficult to know, as circuit specific advantages come into play. From our point of view, we don't really know yet what the different strengths and weaknesses of our own car are, compared to those of our competitors at individual tracks. You mentioned the big teams will fight back. With their greater resources, do you expect them to come steaming past you? AN: I hope not! With a big regulation change like this, it is an opportunity for teams that have fewer resources, but are intelligent in the way they think about the implication of the regulations and how to implement them, to come up with clever design and a good car. When the regulations are stable for a while then teams with more resources have a greater ability to evaluate more options and so have an advantage. That's not to say a smaller team couldn't keep its advantage and rules for the future are aimed at restricting development still further in order to reduce the `arms race' that has characterised F1 over the past few years. How does this win compare to other significant victories in your career? AN: The first point to make is that this is not our first win, Red Bull Technology had a winning car design last year, operated very well by Scuderia Toro Rosso to win in Monza. Emotionally, for everyone here in Milton Keynes, it's been extremely pleasing. I was already very excited and happy after Monza last year and this one in China was special because we managed to get a one-two finish and do pretty much the same in qualifying. The other element that makes this win special is that there's been a big regulation change and we have shown that, as a team we have understood that set of rule changes, producing a car that is reasonably well adapted to them right from the start. It makes it extremely satisfying because, with the new rules, we have been working on our own as a group for almost nine months, without really knowing what other teams are doing and not knowing where your product is going to rate when compared to them, as all the reference points and base lines have changed. But now you have to rethink the design of RB5 to take into account the Paris decision about the diffuser. Do you feel it's a shame you have to take a metaphorical hacksaw to your original concept for the car? AN: It will certainly involve a lot of work! The challenge now is to try and integrate the new diffuser into the rest of the car. But I don't regard it as a shame, I see it as another challenge. Unfortunately, it will involve some more late nights! That's Formula One: you can't afford to sit around and feel sorry for yourself, you just have to get on with it.

Williams

Kazuki Nakajima, Williams 2008 Qualifying - 16th, 2008 Race - 14th “I didn’t have a great weekend in Bahrain last year and found it difficult to get used to the track. I’m more positive going there this year so hopefully it will be a different story. It’s a stop and go track where you need straight line speed, good breaks and traction to do well. Corners 9 and 10 are a bit tricky, you have to really use your breaks and there’s a lot of lateral loading.” Nico Rosberg, Williams 2008 Qualifying - 8th, 2008 Race - 8th “I first raced at Bahrain in 2004 in F3, then won the GP2 Championship there in 2005. In my first race for Williams, I started in 12th but took the nose off on the first corner. After I pitted for a new nose, I had a good race and in the end I made my way up to seventh which meant two points. I also got the fastest lap of the race. As I’ve always had good races there, I really enjoy going to Bahrain. “It’s one of my favourite tracks. Last year the car went well there and we won’t have any issues with warming up the tyres. Downforce level is always really important there for the corners, but then there’s a compromise required so you can fight the other cars on the fast straights. We’re confident going to Bahrain that we can finally get a good result.”

Toyota

Jarno Trulli, Toyota 2008 Qualifying - 7th, 2008 Race - 6th "I am looking forward to racing in Bahrain after the tests we had there over the winter. Bahrain was the first chance I had to really test the TF109 in dry conditions and I knew immediately we had a competitive package, which has proved to be the case now the season has started. In testing the car was strong in Bahrain so I have a good feeling for this weekend and I think we can be competitive. Weather and track conditions change from winter testing to the race weekend but it should still help us a bit to have set-up information from the new car at this track, and we have quite a bit of experience now with these two compounds of tyre. I will push as hard as I can, as always, and I know everyone in the team is really motivated so I hope for a smooth and successful weekend." Timo Glock, Toyota 2008 Qualifying - 13th, 2008 Race - 9th "The Bahrain Grand Prix is good fun and the track is unique. For car set-up you have to compromise between straightline speed and grip in the slower corners, which is quite a tricky balance to achieve. One issue we face particularly in Bahrain is the wind, which comes in across the desert and can change direction from lap to lap. This can make the car a bit unstable if it blows in the wrong direction but we know what to expect so we can be prepared. Last year I was pretty unlucky in Bahrain because I had to back off with a small technical issue when I was sure I would score my first points for the team. But this season has started in a much better way compared to 2008 and I am confident I can continue to show that good performance." Pascal Vasselon, Toyota senior general manager, chassis "We achieved a huge amount of laps in Bahrain during testing and this was very useful in terms of developing the TF109. It should also be useful for this weekend because we have some experience of set-up and slick tyres at this track with the new cars, so we should hit the ground running on Friday. We tested both tyre compounds when we were in Bahrain in February and they performed well in representative temperature conditions so we're not expecting any major problems in that area. Otherwise, Bahrain is quite tough on the brakes; we expect it to be harder on them than any other race this season."

BMW Sauber

Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber 2008 Qualifying - 1st, 2008 Race - 3rd "I am looking forward to going to Bahrain. Overall I really like the track, although it is not really challenging. The Bahrain International Circuit has a couple of long straights and three characteristically low-speed corners that require heavy braking. Wind can play an important role in Sakhir as it influences the balance of the car. Also, the wind blows sand onto parts of the track, which leads to changing grip conditions. Luckily we had the chance to test the F1.09 car in Bahrain in February, although weather conditions were unstable and windy then. Last year we performed quite well in Bahrain - after securing pole position in qualifying I managed to finish the race on the podium." Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber 2008 Qualifying - 6th, 2008 Race - 4th "I enjoy driving in Bahrain. I like the modern complex and the circuit. The section from the fifth to the penultimate corner is particularly well designed. This time I'll be again arriving quite early to allow time for my fitness training. It will be interesting to see what the weather brings. Usually the climate in Bahrain has been very pleasant, but we've also had incredible heat, and during winter testing there was a huge sandstorm. In 2008 there was a concert by Akon after the race, which I also remember well." Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director "In Bahrain we aim to bring the first major overseas stint to a positive end. It also marks the end of the second set of back-to-back races within five weeks. We look back on the previous Bahrain Grand Prix with satisfaction: in 2008 Robert gained his first ever pole position with the BMW Sauber F1 Team, achieving another milestone. After our appearance in Shanghai we are now heading for another region that is important to BMW. For us as a manufacturer in the premium sector the Middle East is also a very significant market." Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber head of engineering "The Bahrain circuit demands a compromise when it comes to aerodynamic set-up. On the one hand the many slow corners require a high level of downforce, while on the other the exceptional breadth of the track encourages the drivers to overtake, which means we can't leave maximum speed out of the equation. With the low-speed corners, traction and brake balance play a major role. Brake wear on this circuit is particularly high, especially in the turn after the start-finish straight and in turn 4. At night the wind regularly sweeps sand onto the track. Generally conditions improve as the day goes on, but tyre wear can nevertheless be fairly high on account of the sand. That is an important factor for the race strategy."