The Panasonic Toyota Racing is all set and ready to hit the race tracks after a great rubber-burning start in the 2007 F1 opening season. This time, they are going to face the tough tracks of Sakhir at the exciting Bahrain Grand Prix! Now who’s excited?
Happening at Sakhir, which is an oasis of runway in the heart of the hot desert, the race is the second part of the back-to-back events which was started by the Malaysian Grand Prix. The scent of a burning rubber with the sweet screeching of the tires is back and is on again! So you better check on your brakes before we witness this fast and furious event.
Now check out some insights from the best drivers of all times about the hottest event today - the Bahrain Grand Prix!
Ralf Schumacher (on Car 11) is proud to express: “The home of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Sakhir, is one of the latest breed of race tracks and a great modern facility. We know that Bahrain will be hot but the heat should not be exceptional and it is less humid than the last race in Malaysia. Even if we do face extreme conditions the teams have so much experience that from a technical point of view it shouldn’t make too much difference. We had a mixed time here during the two weeks of testing before the season but we were able to make some improvements towards the end. Since then we have made a strong start to the season but we clearly have some work to do to catch the top teams. Still, you need to watch a few races before you get a clear picture of the situation. I didn’t have the best of races in Malaysia but we will look for an improved performance and better finish in Bahrain.”
Jarno Trulli (on Car 12) exclaims: “We have had a solid start to 2007 and while we performed well in Melbourne and Malaysia, Bahrain has proved difficult for us in the past. I was delighted to make the podium here in 2005 but last year we had a problem because it was the first race and we didn’t fully understand how to make the most of our package with our new tires. At this year’s pre-season test at Sakhir we struggled too. So it’s never been our track but there is no particular reason why it should be hard for us. It’s an incredible venue with state-of-the-art facilities and it is not a difficult track from a driving perspective. It is hard on braking and there is always wind which brings dust and sand onto the track. Otherwise it is a very clean, smooth circuit with few bumps. We have had a reliable start to the year and we head to Bahrain looking to improve our fortunes in the kingdom with a good result.”
Pascal Vasselon, on the Senior General Manager Chassis fairs: “The Malaysian Grand Prix showed we had progressed since Melbourne so we must now look to build on that. Bahrain was the first race of 2006 and our worst race of the year. Because we hadn’t tested in warm weather before the start of the season we didn’t discover that we had bigger than expected warming up issues with our new tires. It was also slightly cooler than usual with track temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius. This year the race is later in the year so we expect it to be warmer. Our pre-season test at Bahrain this year didn’t go too well - which triggered most of the alarms in the outside world about our form. But the main problem was that we had many reliability issues. They were all minor and have since been solved but it limited our running time and limited our pace. At the following test at Jerez our reliability was better and so was the pace. In Malaysia we had developments to the suspension and a new floor and engine cover. We will run the same package in Bahrain before a big aero update for the next race at Barcelona. We will hope to return to Europe on the back of another strong performance.”
What will happen? Let’s all stay tuned to find out.