Site logo

Bahrain GP: Thursday Press Conference

NEWS STORY
19/04/2012

Heikki, it's been a difficult start to the season for you. What were you expecting from these first three or four races?
Heikki Kovalainen: Well, obviously we're hoping for better finishes. I think we've had some issues pretty much every race, but we're working on them and we're trying to make sure that those kind of troubles that we've had don't happen again. We've done everything we can; everything we could do in this short time to make sure that we have a trouble-free race.

Are you expecting a big step forwards, therefore, for Barcelona?
HK: We have upgrades coming, not only for Barcelona, but all the way through the season. We are still catching up. We have not yet joined the midfield, so we're still targeting that. Obviously everybody's bringing updates, so how much we will be able to make a rapid gain remains to be seen. But I think we're working flat out and strengthening the team in every area to be able to do that.

So, what are your hopes for this weekend then?
HK: Hopefully to have a trouble-free weekend, without any incidents, especially in the race. To have smooth pit stops without any extra incidents. Hopefully we can get everything out of the team and out of the car. Like we've shown in the last couple of race, especially in China, we were able race a few cars for quite a long time in the race. Hopefully we can carry on doing that.

Romain, now 26-years-old, happy birthday! This is a circuit you know well, you've been talking about your GP2 races here and I think you had a 'full house' here if you understand what that means.
Romain Grosjean: Yeah, well, it's a circuit I know quite well, from racing in GP2 and testing with Pirelli for the development of the tyres. I think it's a nice circuit, I quite like it and think we can have a good car here. The weather will be, for once, stable, with some decent temperature and hopefully we can have a clear qualifying and a clear race altogether and achieve an even better result than what we had in the previous race.

In China you got the result you were waiting for, or maybe you were hoping for even better?
RG: You always hope for better! In a way what you want to achieve whenever you start the race is to win. That's the goal for every driver on the grid. But China was a good race, I think it was very tight, some good battles and we were showing that we were able to carry through the race with good pace and some good moves and to be able to be gentle with the tyres. That was the key in China and I think that will the key one more time here.

But this is such a different circuit and the temperatures and conditions are going to be so different.
RG: Yes, but I hate the cold, so I feel better here. The tyre strategy will be different and the tyre usage will be different here as we have these temperatures but as well I don't think we are not going to struggle with warm-up issues or making the work, which will help us to set up the car in a good way.

Timo, obviously the team has been playing catch-up since the start of the season but how do you feel they've been getting on? It seems to be a very steep learning curve.
Timo Glock: Yes, absolutely. If you do 200kms of testing before the first race, every lap, every kilometre you do is like a learning process for us at the moment. I'm quite happy with the past races, I think we've closed the gap quite significantly: last qualifying we were three seconds behind; first race we had five and a half seconds, so there's a clear step forward and that's good.

The results seem positive and the car's reliable as well, how far can you go, do you feel?
TG: I hope we can continue like this in terms of improvements but it will be difficult. European season everyone comes with new updates so we just have to work hard and continue the process we're doing at the moment. It would be great to have at every race a step like we had in China, so we have to see what we can do. We have some little parts here, which could improve the car again, so we're looking forward to it. I think we have a good baseline to really catch-up.

Is the big update coming at Barcelona like most people?
TG: Yeah, we're working on it. It's not definite how much we will get out of it but at the moment we're getting new parts every race. If that continues I don't care how big the update is in Barcelona. If you can keep it up through the whole year that's more important.

Lewis, did you expect to be leading the Championship with three third places after three races?
Lewis Hamilton: Good afternoon everyone, no, definitely not. The target every year I think is to have consistency and sometimes it just doesn't go to plan but this year I think we've been quite fortunate. Finishing on the podium for the first three races has been fantastic for us. Obviously it's very early in the season. In previous seasons you've seen Championship leaders swapping and changing throughout the year so it doesn't really mean too much at the moment.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images
  • Pitpass.com latest F1/Formula 1 images

POST A COMMENT

or Register for a Pitpass ID to have your say

Please note that all posts are reactively moderated and must adhere to the site's posting rules and etiquette.

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

 

No comments posted as yet, would you like to be the first to have your say?

Share this page

X

Copyright © Pitpass 2002 - 2024. All rights reserved.

about us  |  advertise  |  contact  |  privacy & security  |  rss  |  terms