Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

Wow, was für ein Wochenende! Ich bin sehr glücklich, wie es momentan läuft. Der Start war definitiv der Schlüssel zu meinem Sieg. Das war ein richtig großartiger Moment, da wir vor dem Rennen viel Arbeit in diesen Bereich gesteckt haben. Ehrlich gesagt, war es eine Erleichterung, als Führender in die erste Kurve zu gehen. Denn ich konnte im Rückspiegel sehen, dass es hinter mir sehr eng zuging. Danach konnte ich die Pace kontrollieren und den Sieg heimfahren. Bei der Strategie gingen wir auf Nummer sicher. Vielleicht war es nicht die schnellste Option, aber wir mussten das Risiko eines Safety Cars einbeziehen. Insgesamt war es ein beinahe perfektes Wochenende für mich. Nur im Qualifying hätte ich einen Tick besser sein können. Was für ein großartiger Saisonstart. Ein großes Dankeschön an die Jungs und Mädels in den Werken für dieses unglaubliche Auto! Jetzt freue ich mich auf China, wo ich meinen allerersten Grand Prix gewonnen habe. Ich reise also mit jeder Menge guter Erinnerungen dorthin.

“The session went straightforward, everything worked pretty ok, but obviously it would have been better to gain some positions. With the last set of Supersoft tires I had some difficulties in the first few corners, so I was not able to improve my laptime, but apart from that it seemed to be ok. Still, this is not the result we aim to, we want to be in the front. We definitely have some more work to do because we are more or less close to where we want to be. Tomorrow we’ll try to improve from where we finished today, we’ll do our best and see what the day brings. Let’s try to make it a good race.”

Ich hatte heute keinen guten Start, aber er war nicht so schlecht wie beim letzten Mal. Es waren komplett andere Zwischenfälle. Beide schmerzten, aber dieser wahrscheinlich umso mehr! In Melbourne hatte ich viel Wheelspin. Diesmal kam ich einfach nicht so gut weg, das lag an mir. Wenn man von der Pole startet und zurückfällt, entsteht schnell ein Domino-Effekt. Dann geschieht es leicht, dass man eine Berührung hat und leider ist genau das in der ersten Kurve passiert. Nichtsdestotrotz konnte ich mich wieder nach vorne kämpfen und zumindest ein paar Punkte mitnehmen. Es war erneut Schadensbegrenzung. Ich hätte leicht ausfallen können, deshalb bin ich froh, dass ich nicht mehr Punkte verloren habe. Mein Auto war so stark beschädigt, dass ich nicht mit Kimi mithalten konnte. Ich kämpfte hart und gab alles, was damit ging, aber es reichte nicht ganz, um ihn einzuholen. Somit musste ich gegen Ende einfach meine Reifen für den Fall eines Safety Cars schonen. Vielen Dank an alle Fans, die an diesem Wochenende hierhergekommen sind. Die Unterstützung für mich ist hier unglaublich. Ich wurde sehr herzlich empfangen und freue mich darauf, im nächsten Jahr wieder zu kommen. Jetzt muss ich bis China auf den nächsten Kampf warten. Die Strecke liegt mir seit vielen Jahren, also hoffen wir, dass sich das Blatt dort für mich wenden wird.

"The race start was interesting. I didn't get off the line very well and I could see it was getting a bit chaotic into Turn 1. I tried to capitalize on it but ended up with damage on the front wing when Bottas and I came together. There was a moment that I thought I would have to pit for a new wing as the chunk that came off looked pretty substantial but we were able to hang in there for a few laps, racing with the Williams. The damage didn't affect me too much and we had a good race, although a little lonely towards the end, with some decent points scored."

“This is the American dream. It is unbelievable. I said we had to manage our expectations after we finished sixth in Australia, but here we finished fifth. There’s still a lot of things we can do better, from pit stops to the setup of the car and so on but, for now, this one is for the guys. I looked at their faces last night and they were all very tired because of the amount of work we’re doing. This is a massive reward. Really, just unbelievable. In the race, I had a good feeling in the car. It was an aggressive strategy, but managing tires has always been my strength in the past. Knowing we had a softer compound for this racetrack was something I liked. The car was set up well for the supersoft tires and I had a fantastic race. The car has a very good baseline. Everything is working well. I don’t think I’ve ever been as high as fifth in the driver standings. This is the first time in my career, I can’t believe it.”

“I’m very happy with today’s result! I think we bounced back very strongly from the first weekend and the whole team did a fantastic job – a great strategy, good pit-stops… It all worked out perfectly, including our tyre management. The car was just doing what it had to do and felt good, we had great pace! It was an action-packed race and I really enjoyed it out there. To finish P6 is a fantastic way to finish the weekend and I’d like to thank the whole team for their excellent work. Also, this is the first time ever that the team scores points here in Bahrain, so I’m very happy to have changed this statistic – as I said before coming here, that was one of my objectives!”

"I am very pleased with today. It was quite difficult in the beginning but I would say the race went very well considering where we started from. We had good pace and a good result which I am very happy with. The strategy worked well and the team managed to avoid traffic on the track, when we saw an opportunity we went for it and it made the race good fun. We found a nice rhythm during the race. It was also good to see we were challenging the front runners, at the right tracks I think this will be interesting. We need to work on our qualifying and not repeat the disaster of yesterday, for China I will sit down with my side of the garage and analyse qualifying to improve that. It was a really good wheel to wheel race which I think is good for TV and I'm really happy to have been involved in that action. I leave here with the glass half full."

I had such a great start, going from seventh to second, but unfortunately the two-stop strategy didn’t work as expected and our pace on the medium tyre was not very good. This allowed others on softer tyres to get ahead and stay there. We started the weekend expecting more so it’s been a disappointing result, but hopefully we can learn from this weekend and have a better result in China.

I was expecting more from today and finishing ninth is a bit disappointing. I had a mega start, but unfortunately collided with Lewis in turn one which was a shame as it cost us both positions. The drive-through penalty then compromised our strategy a bit so it was always going to be difficult after that. I also damaged my front wing in that collision with a big piece missing which didn’t help our pace. The first two races of the season haven’t been great for us but we’re keeping upbeat and head to the next race hoping to make up for it.

“This result was more or less what I expected – I maximised the opportunity and I’m quite satisfied. “The start was a little bit difficult. There was debris left and right – it was pretty hectic in fact – and there was a lot of fighting throughout that opening lap. “Since the beginning of the weekend, I’ve felt very confident in the car, and pretty comfortable that I could do a good job. I’m pleased that I didn’t make any mistakes operationally – I was really focusing on that side of things – and I came away with a point, which was a nice bonus. “This weekend was a big opportunity for me: I made the most of it, I showed what I’m capable of, and now I just need to wait and see what happens next. That’s not for me to decide – so let’s see what the future brings.”

“Starting from the pit lane meant that it was always going to be a strategic race but I still had some fun fights out on track and we extracted all we had in the car today. We were so close to scoring points; it’s frustrating to think what could have been had we not incurred a penalty. In any case, the team did a good job this weekend, we’re working very well altogether and the car’s performance was encouraging. There are signs of good things to come for the team, including fantastic support from Renault; we have reason to smile. As long as we work really hard now, we will reap the benefits later.”

„Dieses Rennen machte Spass, weil es so viele Positionskämpfe gegeben hat. Der Start verlief etwas unglücklich. Während der ersten Runde konnte ich nicht die gewünschte Motorleistung abrufen, verlor so einige Positionen, und steckte hinter Konkurrenten fest. Als ich dann an ihnen vorbei war, hatte ich ein relativ gutes Rennen. Leider musste ich nach meinem letzten Boxenstopp, als es um P10 und einen WM-Punkt ging, auf den Benzinverbrauch achten. Daher war es wirklich schwierig, meine Position zu verteidigen. Alles in allem war es ein ganz ordentliches Wochenende, an dem wir aus unseren Möglichkeiten das Maximum herausholten. Jetzt müssen wir mit Hochdruck daran arbeiten, um unser Auto noch wettbewerbsfähiger machen zu können.“

“It was a great race for me. I can’t even compare it to the one in Melbourne because it felt like a completely different race. The car was better, the way we could manage the tyres was better – everything was just a big improvement. It was quite chaotic to begin with but that happens in the midfield so I’m not going to complain. My start was good and I managed to avoid any contact, then the rest of the first stint was really good fun. It was nice to be so competitive. I was 7th at one point and I really enjoyed getting past the Force Indias. It would have been good to take the second Sauber at the end but I had started to lose the tyres by then. We still experienced some tyre degradation, which is why we switched to a three-stop strategy, but it was much better than the last race and another good sign for us. I want to thank the whole team for today. I had a great car and it’s exciting to see how much more potential we have. I can’t wait for China now.”

„Wenn man aus der hintersten Startreihe ins Rennen geht, ist es positiv, wenn man einige Positionen gutmachen kann. Ich gab mein Bestes, dieses Resultat allerdings war das Maximum, dass wir heute erreichen konnten, weil ich erneut mit dem Auto zu kämpfen hatte. Jetzt gilt es wiederum jedes Detail am C35 zu analysieren, damit wir hinsichtlich des kommenden Rennens Verbesserungen vornehmen können.“

“A difficult and disappointing race where not much went to plan. I made a poor start away from the line and was on the back foot going into turn one. Then suddenly three or four cars backed up on the apex and I nudged the back of somebody, which damaged my front wing and forced me to pit on lap one. From there onwards we tried to recover and pull off a two-stop strategy to get back in the race, but it proved very difficult. I was always in traffic and involved in lots of fights so my tyre degradation was very high. I don’t think we’ve seen our true pace today because the first lap destroyed my race and we were out of synch with everybody and always playing catch up.”

“Not the best of weekends for me: I knew I had to get a good start after yesterday’s qualifying result and I managed to pull off a great one, making up a lot of ground. Unfortunately, on lap two I made contact with [Carlos] Sainz, which ended up destroying my race. I was in his tow and when I went onto the marbles on the inside I just couldn’t stop the car enough. It was a real shame as the pace was there to score a good amount of points. During the rest of the race we had a lot of tyre degradation, but it’s too early to draw conclusions about what happened today: we need to go back to HQ and look at the data to make sure we come back strongly in China. We haven’t been very lucky in the first two races, even though our pace has been good, so I’m sure things will turn in our favour soon.”

“It was great to see the chequered flag today. It feels good to have a race distance under my belt, which is vital experience for me and the team as it gives us more data to analyse and develop the car further. The start was good and we were in the mix with the Saubers and Renaults but I think we did a different strategy to those around us. We also suffered with tyre degradation, which really hampered our progress. Shanghai is a track I know well so I’m looking forward to making another step forward there.”

“What a shame to have had to retire. It was looking like a race where we could’ve certainly scored points, and it all just ended in a first-lap accident. We had a very good start to the race – obviously everyone in front of us was on the Super Soft tyre while we started on Softs, but we still managed to gain a few places, so that was good. We were fighting and I was defending from a McLaren and Checo Perez, who suddenly arrived from behind and hit me, causing a puncture. From that point onwards my race was completely lost, as I was a lap down after my first pit-stop. Now we just need to put this behind us and look forward to the next race in China in two weeks’ time, where we will come back stronger - we know that we have a good car and we can be fast.”

“We have done a fantastic job. After a great start, where I gained a lot of positions, I was feeling very confident. I was very happy with how the car was feeling, and I was managing my tires and fuel well. Unfortunately, we had an issue with the front brake and we felt we couldn’t continue, so I had to retire. I’m now looking ahead to China. The team is performing really well. The speed is there and we have a great car. So, I will keep fighting for the next race.”

“We made some real progress with the car this weekend. “Qualifying didn’t go fully to plan, but the pace was there – it’s just been a tough weekend because I think we could have scored a good amount of points. Still, I think we can take away some positives in terms of our outright pace. “In the race I had a loss of power and then the car stopped. We don’t know yet exactly what the problem was – the car just cut out. I initially felt it out of Turn Two, and I eventually stopped at Turn 10. “It’s a pity; I got a really good start, and made up lots of places, overtaking three cars at Turn 10 under braking, so I was pretty chuffed with that. So it’s a real shame, as I say: before I stopped, I was saving a lot of fuel, my tyres were in good condition, and I was just cruising behind the cars in front. “We were going to try something a little bit different with the strategy; the cars we were sat behind finished fifth and sixth, and I felt like we could have had a good fight with them. “Stoffel has done a solid job this weekend, getting our first point of the year. We were both helped out by the incidents on track, but, all said, he’s done a good job as I say.”

“Having got one Grand Prix under my belt, I was looking forward to racing today so I’m disappointed at not making it past the formation lap! I think we could have had a chance to move up the grid, especially after our strong performance in Melbourne. Everything was okay with the car until the last corner of the lap, but then I had to go straight into the pits. It looks like it was related to hydraulics and we’ll be looking into it with the team to understand what happened. These things can happen in racing, and I certainly want to move to the next race in China as quickly as possible.”

“I am happy to take the fight. Let’s see where we are during the race. Today there’s nothing really to complain about. It’s a big surprise that both Lewis and Nico in the end were able to improve so much. For me the track was similar to the run before and that’s why the time was practically the same. Tomorrow we hope to have a good start, but not doing the same as in Australia thereafter… We know we are not yet where we want to be but I think we are pushing very hard though. Obviously the season has started already so it’s up to us to make sure we keep making technical progress, but as I said many times the car is a big improvement to last year and this will provide more opportunities to improve also in the future; but we really have to keep up the pressure. You can talk about what can happen in ten races but we have to focus first of all on tomorrow, prepare the race as good as we can because there’s a chance to do well and to win. That’s my belief. If I am right or not we’ll see, but that’s the joy, I think, and what I love about racing. To put it in simple terms, I would love to win tomorrow. Naturally if we had more speed we’d also have a better chance to win. But I think we are on the right track, we are a team and we try to improve together. Today was a good day for us, all the car balance was good and we got everything we wanted by ourselves, which is the most important thing.”