Bahrain GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Sauber

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - ALFA ROMEO SAUBER F1 TEAM

Marcus Ericsson - “Off to the first back-to-back of the year. Bahrain is a track that I know very well. I have been there a lot of times and enjoy driving on it. The track has different challenges to it, one being the sand surrounding it. Depending on the wind and weather conditions, this can become a defining factor. In the middle of the track, there is a very technical left hand corner which is one of the most difficult ones of the season. It also offers some good overtaking opportunities which I look forward to. After seeing our potential in Australia, we are going into round 2 feeling positive.”

Charles Leclerc - “After having participated in my first Formula 1 race in Australia, I look forward to going into my second round, as I will be familiar with all of the activities taking place at the track throughout the race weekend. I’m excited to go to Bahrain. I know the track from last year when I raced there in Formula 2, and have great memories. I had one of my best races there. The track is interesting. The temperatures are very high, which is very aggressive on the tyres. This creates interesting strategies due to the degradation that takes place. Let’s see what the next race will bring.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk

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Bahrain GP: Driver Preview Quotes - McLaren

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - McLAREN F1 TEAM

Fernando Alonso - “After a positive start to the season I’m already really excited to head to Bahrain and get back in the car. Australia gave us a positive feeling and I hope we can continue that momentum as we head into these back-to-back races.

    I know the team are working hard back at the factory to push through the upgrades that are in the pipeline, as these, along with the development work we’re doing on the chassis and with the power unit, are what will be key to unlocking further performance from our car.

    We mustn’t get complacent – these two races in Bahrain and Shanghai are tough on the cars and it’s important that we maintain good reliability if we are to maximize our potential. The competition is very strong and we need to keep pushing forward for more points.”

Stoffel Vandoorne - “I’m very happy to be heading to Bahrain on the back of a positive weekend for us in Australia. There’s a good feeling in the team and we’re all working hard to keep that going. We know there’s a lot to do and every race brings a new set of challenges.

    Bahrain is a great venue – it’s where I started my F1 career when I filled in for Fernando as reserve driver in 2016, and it’s an important race for us thanks to our shareholders. The weather is good and the later-than-usual programme for the weekend sets it apart from a lot of other tracks we visit.

    Racing from day to night always feels special and makes this grand prix so unique – it means it’s very different from Australia in terms of set-up so I’m keen to maximize track time to work on preparation with the engineers. Last year I had a lot of bad luck there reliability-wise so I’m hoping we can have better fortunes there this time around.”

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Bahrain GP: Circuit Preview

BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2018 - CIRCUIT PREVIEW

Name: Bahrain International Circuit

Location: Sakhir, Bahrain

Opened: March 17th, 2004

Length: 3.363 Miles

Capacity: 70,000

Runs: Clockwise

Turns: 15

Race Laps: 57

2017 RACE STATS:

Pole Position: Valtteri Bottas

1st Place: Sebastian Vettel

2nd Place: Lewis Hamilton

3rd Place: Valtteri Bottas

Retirements: Stoffel Vandoorne (DID NOT START - Water Pressure), Kevin Magnussen (Electrical), Max Verstappen (Brakes), Lance Stroll (Collision), Carlos Sainz (Collision), Marcus Ericsson (Gearbox) & Fernando Alonso (Power Unit)*

* - Notes Alonso retired from the race but had completed at least 90% of the race distance and qualified as finished.

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Bahrain GP: Track Schedule

BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2018 - TRACK SCHEDULE

April 5th / Thursday

15:00 - 16:00 - Press Conference

19:15 - 19:45 - Pit-Lane Walk (F1 Experience - F1 Experience Guests Only)

19:45 - 20:15 - Drive The Track Tour (F1 Experience - F1 Experience Guests Only)

April 6th / Friday

12:30 - 13:30 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

14:00 - 15:30 - Free Practice #1

15:45 - 17:00 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

16:00 - 17:00 - Press Conference

18:00 - 19:30 - Free Practice #2

20:40 - 21:10 - Paddock Club Truck Tour

April 7th / Saturday

11:40 - 12:40 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

12:10 - 12:30 - Team Pit-Stop Practice

15:00 - 16:00 - Free Practice #3

16:15 - 17:25 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

16:45 - 17:15 - Paddock Club Truck Tour

18:00 - 19:00 - Qualifying

19:40 - 20:10 - Paddock Club Truck Tour

April 8th / Sunday

15:00 - 16:00 - Drivers Autograph Session

15:40 - 17:25 - Paddock Club Pit-Lane Walk

16:30 - 17:00 - Paddock Club Truck Tour

16:40 - 17:10 - Drivers Track Parade

16:55 - 17:25 - Starting Grid Presentation

17:10 - 17:25 - Parachute Display (TBC)

17:56 - 17:58 - National Anthem

17:58 - 17:59 - Gulf Air Fly Past (TBC)

18:10 - 20:10 - Race

* - Subject to change

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Australian GP: Race - RE-CAP & RESULTS

AUSTRALIAN GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS

    Sebastian Vettel took advantage of a mid-race virtual safety car to snatch victory in the first race of the 2018 Formula 1 championship.

    The Ferrari driver had been running third for most of the first half of the race, but inherited the lead when team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton pitted for fresh tyres. Vettel stayed out as Ferrari split its strategy but pitted a handful of laps later when the virtual safety car was deployed.

    Hamiilton was left stunned and frustrated as the Ferrari emerged from the pits just ahead of him. The virtual safety car soon turned to a real safety car, bunching up the field. Hamilton remained close to Vettel on the restart but couldn’t find a way past the Ferrari. He fell away in the closing stages of the race as he tried to preserve his engine and finished five seconds behind Vettel.

    Raikkonen, who had challenged Hamilton early in the race, came home third.

    The safety car had been called out to remove the striken Haas of Romain Grosjean, who had retired only one lap after team-mate Kevin Magnussen had come to a stop with the same problem.

    Magnussen, who had jumped Max Verstappen for fourth at the start of the race, came into the pits on lap 22 of 58. The Dane managed to make it to turn three before coming to a stop with a loose wheel nut on the left-rear wheel. Grosjean suffered the safe fate, pulling to a stop at turn 1 and triggering the caution period.

    Daniel Ricciardo, who had also benefitted from the virtual safety car, was promoted to fourth, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Verstappen.

    Verstappen had a difficult race. Having lost out to Magnussen at the start of the race, the Dutchman followed close behind Haas but ran wide at the turn 11/12 complex on lap six. The incident left him with damage that led to an intermitted loss of downforce. He struggled with the imbalance for the rest of the race, spinning a handful of laps later, but managed to recover to take sixth.

    Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who had been awarded a five place grid penalty having changed gearbox after his qualifying crash.

    Stoffel Vandoorne and Carlos Sainz completed the top 10.

    The Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon narrowly missed out on points, finished 11th and 12th, ahead of rookie Charles Leclerc, Lance Stroll, and Brendon Hartley.

    Williams’  Sergey Sirotkin retired just 10 minutes into the race with a brakes problem caused by a loose sandwich bag that had found its way on track, just before Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson retired with a loss of power steering.

    Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly was the only other retirement, suffering a power unit failure on lap 13.

RESULTS:

1. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 25 Points
2. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 18 Points
3. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 15 Points
4. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia / +12 Points
5. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Renault / Spain / + 10 Points
6. Max Verstappen / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / + 8 Points
7. Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / + 6 Points
8. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 4 Points
9. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Renault / +2 Points
10. Carlos Sainz / Renault-Renault / Spain / + 1 Point
11. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
12. Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France
13. Charles Leclerc / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco
14. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
15. Brendon Hartley / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand

RETIRED - Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / Wheel Nut
RETIRED - Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark / Wheel Nut
RETIRED - Pierre Gasly / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France / Power Unit
RETIRED - Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden / Hydraulics
RETIRED – Sergey Sirotkin / Williams-Mercedes / Russia / Brakes

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Australian GP: Qualifying - RE-CAP & RESULTS

AUSTRALIAN GP - QUALIFYING - RE-CAP & RESULTS

    Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the first race of the season while Ricciardo and Bottas suffered grid penalties. 

    Ricciardo was handed a 3-Place-Grid-Penalty for failing to slow sufficiently under red flags in Free Practice #2 and Bottas ended up with a 5-Place-Grid-Penalty after crashing out of Q3 early on in the session caused damage to the car which resulted in a gearbox change.

HOW IT WORKS:

Q1 = 18 minutes. All cars allowed to go out. At the end of the session, the five slowest are eliminated.

Q2 = 15 minutes. The remaining cars go out. At the end of the session, the five slowest are eliminated.

Q3 = 12 minutes. Final 10 cars go out. The final order at the end of the session is how the grid will line up. Fastest car starts from Pole Position.

GRID LINE-UP:

1. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain
2. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
3. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
4. Max Verstappen / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
5. Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
6. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France
7. Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany
8. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia*
9. Carlos Sainz / Renault-Renault / Spain
10. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Renault / Spain
11. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Renault / Belgium
12. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
13. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
14. Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France
15. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland**
16. Brendon Hartley / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand
17. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
18. Charles Leclerc / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco
19. Sergey Sirotkin / Williams-Mercedes / Russia
20. Pierre Gasly / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France

* - (Ricciardo) 3-Place-Grid-Penalty for Red Flag infringement
** - (Bottas) 5-Place-Grid-Penalty for gearbox change

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Australian GP: Free Practice #3 - RE-CAP & TIMES

AUSTRALIAN GP - FREE PRACTICE #3 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    Free Practice 3 was the first session of the season where wet and intermediate tyres were put to use as rain soaked the circuit.

    Drivers were slow to head out but after the first 15-20 minutes, times started to roll out. Only one team opted not to run in the session: Force India.

    Neither Ocon or Perez put a time up for the last practice session of the weekend. With no rain in the forecast for the race, it seemed pointless to do wet-weather running.

    Lance Stroll struggled with a gearbox issue early on in the session but managed to get out and set the 14th fastest time with a 1:35.828. Rookie and new team-mate, Sergey Sirotkin was just ahead of him in 13th.

    Fastest of the rain-soaked session was Sebastian Vettel with a 1:26.067. Raikkonen was close behind as well as Sauber's Marcus Ericsson. Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz in the Renault rounded up the top 5.

    Daniel Ricciardo was given a 3-Place-Grid-Penalty for failing to slow sufficiently under red flag conditions in Free Practice #2, when a loose timing wire was removed from the Start/Finish line. Ricciardo also received 2 penalty points to his license.

TIMES:

1. Sebastian Vettel - 1:26.067 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany

2. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:28.499 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland

3. Marcus Ericsson - 1:28.890 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden

4. Max Verstappen - 1:31.680 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands

5. Carlos Sainz - 1:33.172 / Renault-Renault / Spain

6. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:34.043 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia

7. Valtteri Bottas - 1:34.174 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland

8. Lewis Hamilton - 1:34.225 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain

9. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:34.233 / McLaren-Renault / Belgium

10. Fernando Alonso - 1:34.298 / McLaren-Renault / Spain

11. Pierre Gasly - 1:34.990 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France

12. Brendon Hartley - 1:35.438 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand

13. Sergey Sirotkin - 1:35.589 / Williams-Mercedes / Russia

14. Lance Stroll - 1:35.828 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada

15. Romain Grosjean - 1:36.171 / Haas-Ferrari / France

16. Charles Leclerc - 1:36.448 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco

17. Kevin Magnussen - 1:36.807 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark

18. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:38.482 / Renault-Renault / Germany

19. Esteban Ocon - NO TME SET / Force India-Mercedes / France

20. Sergio Perez - NO TIME SET / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico

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Australian GP: Free Practice #2 - RE-CAP & TIMES

AUSTRALIAN GP - FREE PRACTICE #2 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    The second practice session in Melbourne saw Lewis Hamilton secure the quickest time with a 1:23.931. Max Verstappen was close behind in second with a 1:24.058. Hamilton's team-mate, Bottas, rounded up the top three with a 1:24.159.

    Completing the top 5 were both Ferrari's with Raikkonen in 4th with a 1:24.214 and Vettel right behind with a 1:24.451.

    Both McLaren's finished within the top ten with Alonso in 8th and Vandoorne in 10th. Switching to Renault engines for the 2018 season could be what the team needs to stay within the top 10 for the other sessions. There is hope that McLaren will be able to fight for more points this season than in the previous ones.

    A Red Flag was caused when a timing wire came loose on the Start/Finish line on the track. Once it was removed, the session was back underway.

    Lance Stroll struggled with mechanical problems at the very end of the session but still managed a 1:25.543 to secure 14th fastest while Sirotkin was down in 18th with a 1:25.974, finishing ahead of both Sauber drivers.

TIMES:

1. Lewis Hamilton - 1:23.931 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain

2. Max Verstappen - 1:24.058 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands

3. Valtteri Bottas - 1:24.159 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland

4. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:24.214 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland

5. Sebastian Vettel - 1:24.451 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany

6. Romain Grosjean - 1:24.648 / Haas-Ferrari / France

7. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:24.721 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia

8. Fernando Alonso - 1:25.200 / McLaren-Renault / Spain

9. Kevin Magnussen - 1:25.246 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark

10. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:25.285 / McLaren-Renault / Denmark

11. Carlos Sainz - 1:25.390 / Renault-Renault / Spain

12. Sergio Perez - 1:25.413 / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico

13. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:25.463 / Renault-Renault / Germany

14. Lance Stroll - 1:25.543 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada

15. Esteban Ocon - 1:25.888 / Force India-Mercedes / France

16. Brendon Hartley - 1:25.925 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand

17. Pierre Gasly - 1:25.945 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France

18. Sergey Sirotkin - 1:25.974 / Williams-Mercedes / Russia

19. Marcus Ericsson - 1:26.814 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden

20. Charles Leclerc - 1:26.815 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco

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Australian GP: Free Practice #1 - RE-CAP & TIMES

AUSTRALIAN GP - FREE PRACTICE #1 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 in the first free practice session of the 2018 Formula 1 championship.

    The last man to leave the pits at the start of the session, Hamilton quickly jumped to the top of the times.

    Improvements from the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo dropped Hamilton to third, but he soon returned to go 0.428s faster than Verstappen.

    He later improved again to set the benchmark at 1m24.026s.

    Team-mate Valtteri Bottas came closest to the reigning champion, but was half a second adrift of Hamilton.

    Verstappen finished the morning third quickest, ahead of the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. Ricciardo dropped down to sixth by the end of the session.

    Romain Grosjean in the Ferrari powered Haas finished best of the rest. He took seventh quickest, 1.704s slower than Hamilton and 0.735s slower than Vettel. His team-mate Kevin Magnussen could only manage 17th quickest and completed just 13 laps.

    McLaren started the season with a mechanical problem. Both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne suffered an exhaust issue which limited their running. When the pair did manage to get out, the finished eighth and 10th quickest, with Renault’s Carlos Sainz Jnr putting himself just ahead of Vandoorne.

    Pierre Gasly narrowly missed out on the top 10, setting a lap time just 0.012s slower than Vandoorne. He finished ahead of fellow rookie Sergey Sirotkin, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon.

    Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez took 15th and 16th, ahead of Magnussen and Brendon Hartley.

    The Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc completed the order.

TIMES:

1. Lewis Hamilton - 1:24.026 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain
2. Valtteri Bottas - 1:24.577 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland
3. Max Verstappen - 1:24.771 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
4. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:24.875 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
5. Sebastian Vettel - 1:24.995 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
6. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:25.063 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia
7. Romain Grosjean - 1:25.730 / Haas-Ferrari / France
8. Fernando Alonso - 1:25.896 / McLaren-Renault / Spain
9. Carlos Sainz - 1:25.922 / Renault-Renault / Spain
10. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:26.482 / McLaren-Renault / Belgium
11. Pierre Gasly - 1:26.494 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France
12. Sergey Sirotkin - 1:26.536 / Williams-Mercedes / Russia
13. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:26.583 / Renault-Renault / Germany
14. Esteban Ocon - 1:26.605 / Force India-Mercedes / France
15. Lance Stroll - 1:26.636 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
16. Sergio Perez - 1:26.767 / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
17. Kevin Magnussen - 1:27.035 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
18. Brendon Hartley – 1:27.745 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand
19. Marcus Ericsson - 1:27.964 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
20. Charles Leclerc - 1:28.853 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco 

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Australian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Red Bull

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - ASTON MARTIN RED BULL RACING

Daniel Ricciardo - “G’day folks. Starting the F1 season in Australia means there is so much hype and so much build up, now with me being the only Australian on the grid there is extra attention, extra questioning and expectation. It’s a lot but it’s fun, it’s cool but it does mean I usually leave that weekend needing 48 hours of pure serenity and quietness.

    Melbourne in 2017 was a combination of my errors and some misfortune, I crashed in qualifying and then we had a technical issue for the race. We were all putting our hand up saying “my fault” last year so 2018 is definitely time to get what we deserve in Melbourne, or get what we came for, that sounds better.

    Getting in the RB14 for the first time was really sweet, hearing it fire up and seeing it with the new bodywork gets you excited for the year. The RB14 compared to the RB13 at this stage last year is a lot different. To start with, getting into the car is a lot harder. There is a fair bit of aerodynamic change this year, real enthusiasts will see it straight away and spot the differences, the main one being the shark fins have gone and obviously the addition of the halo.

    I can’t wait to get the season started, I’m hanging out to get back on the track and these new cars are very fast, looking forward to seeing you all out there!”

Max Verstappen - “I always enjoy going to Melbourne, I like the country and the temperature which is always a welcome change compared to Europe at this time of year. The fans are very passionate about racing and especially Formula 1 as it has a great history in Australia.

    Albert Park is not the easiest track to overtake on, we will try our best but the straights are not quite long enough and a lot of the corners leading to the straights are 90 degrees, this makes it hard to set-up a pass. Turns 11 and 12 are the fastest corners and really cool to drive, especially in qualifying with low fuel in sixth or seventh gear.

    The trees around the circuit sometimes make your braking markers hard to spot with shadows, it’s quite normal on a street circuit but makes it more challenging for us to get it right. We are hoping to have made a large step forward this year and be competitive from the start, to have a fast car from race one and continue for the rest of the season would be great.”

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