Bahrain GP - Spyker Ferrari - PreviewLess than 24 hours after the end of the Malaysian Grand Prix, the Spyker Ferrari team flew west to the Kingdom of Bahrain for the third event of the 17-round Championship. Run just a week after the Malaysian round, the Bahrain Grand
Prix from 13 - 15 April will be the first double header of the year.
Following disappointing results in the first two Grand Prix of the season, the team is hoping that this event will yield its first double finish of the year. The team made good progress with the new aero upgrade introduced in Malaysia, however was disappointed it could not validate the improvement under race conditions. Building nevertheless on the information gathered in the practice and qualifying sessions, the team goes to Bahrain confident of drawing ever-closer to the back of the field.
Christijan Albers'I like the Bahrain circuit very much - seeing the track appear out of the desert from seemingly the middle of nowhere is very impressive. There's only one aim this time: to finish. It's been disappointing so far not to get to the end of both races, particularly as there's been so much improvement from the start of the season. We all now want to show what we can do."
Adrian Sutil
"I'm looking forward to this race after the hard weekend in Malaysia.
We introduced the aero update and worked hard to get as much information as possible, but unfortunately we missed the chance to get the data from the race. But I am sure with the info we did get, we will be better in Bahrain."
Colin Kolles, Team Principal
"Of course it was very disappointing not to get two cars to the finish for the second time this season, but that just makes us more determined to set the record straight in Bahrain. The team continues to move forward: the upgrade made a difference in Sepang, we now need to have the opportunity to show it under race conditions."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer
"Obviously we're moving on from a difficult event in Malaysia. As we weren't able to participate in the Bahrain test before the start of the season, we will be in a similar position to Malaysia where the other teams had a head start, but we've got to ensure we do better this time round. Now we've got the mileage on the new upgrade we should be able to put in a more competitive performance."
Dominic Harlow, Chief Engineer
"Last year Bahrain opened the season, however this year it's back in its more accustomed slot in early April. It's the Bahraini springtime, but of course the weather can still be very hot; we can normally expect an average temperature of 30 C. Unlike Malaysia, however, where the temperatures can be even hotter, you're unlikely to see rain over the Bahrain race weekend. In fact, the chance of rain is incredibly slim - there is an average one day of rain in this region in April! Statistically, this makes it the driest race of the year."
"The dry, arid heat has created a desert-like environment and sand and dust from the dunes that surround the circuit can be blown onto it by the swirling Gulf winds, which can make the already coarse surface very gritty. The 5.412km circuit has tight corners allied with long straights that require good straight line speed, traction and braking. The latter two are especially important, but it can be hard to balance the need for stability in these areas while maintaining grip in the slower corners such as turns 10 and 13 where front wheel locking on entry is often a problem."
"The long straights mean this is a circuit where engine performance is especially important and it has one of the highest wide open throttle times per lap of almost anywhere else in the championship except Monza. After all these long straights braking down into the slower corners gives a high wear rate for brakes - possibly the highest of the year. 'It's a medium-high downforce track and, with the hard and medium tyres available this weekend, I would expect to see very similar strategies to Malaysia for qualifying and the race."
Source Spyker Ferrari
