Daniel Ricciardo: “Getting the primary race completed was a possibility for everybody, together with myself, to mud off the cobwebs. Over the weekend, there have been some issues I did properly and others not so properly. Now I can not await the subsequent one. I am glad it is a back-to-back and happy we get one other race instantly after the primary one. I stayed in Bahrain for a couple of extra days, taking it straightforward however staying energetic with low stress by taking part in Padel with a number of the guys!
“There was quite a lot of evaluation completed on Saturday night time after the race, and loads of good issues got here from it. Within the brief time period, it is going to take an ideal race from us to complete within the factors, however I imagine that over the course of the subsequent few races, we’ll proceed to get stronger and stronger. Saudi is a really completely different monitor, and I am excited to be racing there once more. With one race completed, I reckon I can get a couple of extra tenths out of the automotive this weekend.
“I’ve raced twice in Saudi the place my finest outcome was a fifth place. It is an awesome monitor, one I take pleasure in quite a bit, and I am actually completely satisfied to be going again there. The grip is fairly excessive for a road circuit, so I am trying ahead to the high-speed problem and the adrenaline spike that comes with it. The primary sector is tremendous quick: when you get via Turns 1 and a couple of it is time to maintain on as a result of the G-forces in your physique are very excessive. It is an actual monitor, very bodily.”
Yuki Tsunoda: “I stayed in Bahrain for a couple of days after the race, and now I am eager to begin work once more in Jeddah. At this stage of the season, you at all times need to be driving the automotive! There was quite a lot of hype about our staff earlier than the take a look at, which continued within the build-up to the primary race, however contained in the storage, we clearly weren’t taking note of it. To be sincere, I wasn’t anticipating a lot from Bahrain, nevertheless it ended up being higher than I assumed by way of what the automotive may do, particularly in qualifying. Really, even the race tempo was fairly good, however some components meant this was exhausting to see from the skin.
“It was a helpful weekend the place we learnt quite a bit about our automotive, its limitations and the place we will enhance. For instance, the modifications we produced from FP1 to FP2 did not work the best way we needed, so we modified once more, and it was significantly better for FP3 and qualifying, so all these classes are going to be helpful in Saudi. Our staff hasn’t simply modified its title, it is new in some ways; now we have new individuals and have carried out new procedures, so we’re nonetheless studying find out how to all work properly collectively similtaneously studying concerning the new automotive.
“Now, we’ll proceed that course of in Saudi. Final 12 months, I used to be within the factors till a few laps from the tip. I prefer it as a result of it is a very quick, enjoyable monitor to drive, and it will likely be the primary likelihood to see how the brand new automotive works at a really completely different monitor structure. There will probably be hardly any tyre degradation, and we’ll see how the automotive’s aero works at actually excessive speeds. It is so quick, and the partitions are very shut which makes it very attention-grabbing from contained in the cockpit. Everybody could be very motivated to go sooner, enhance the automotive and rating factors as quickly as doable. We have seen how shut the midfield is, so we all know it will not be a straightforward job, however we’re all decided to proceed pushing.”
