An altogether more predictable Grand Prix unfolded at Bahrain’s International Circuit today which compounded its reputation as one of the most hostile racing environments on the calendar as temperatures reached a sweltering 55°C in the cockpit. Effectively fighting from last place following a second lap incident which resulted in a premature stop for a new front wing, Kazuki Nakajima was unable to recover any significant ground during the race and, with only eight laps to go, was ultimately forced into retirement following an oil pressure problem. Nico Rosberg lost position at the start but soon settled into a consistent pace among the melee of top ten drivers.
Traffic, however, compromised Nico’s strategy and prevented him from improving upon his position leaving him to conclude the Grand Prix where he started, in ninth and just outside of the points.
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Nico Rosberg:
It was not so good today. I was on the limit and really got the best out of it, but we were simply not quick enough. I lost so many places at the start because all of the KERS cars came flying past me, which was really shocking because I had a very good start. This is just where we are at the moment so we need to push hard to improve and catch up with the others in front. Just like everyone else, we will have some new parts ready for Barcelona and I hope our package will be competitive.
Kazuki Nakajima:
It’s was a disappointing race for me. My start was average but it was very difficult to defend against the cars around me that had KERS. It was then very close going into the first corner on the second lap and I damaged my front wing so I had to pit early. I came out at the back of the field and from there I couldn’t make up any ground.
In the end, my oil pressure was spiking so we took the decision to retire the car. The one positive thing is that the car felt good so we will hopefully do better at the next race.
Sam Michael, Technical Director:
In Nico’s case, we started ninth and finish ninth so we didn’t manage to capitalise on the strategy that we had. He had a good start, but he then lost positions going into turn one so we’ll have to look and see what happened there. He then spent the stints where we needed clean air behind traffic. Kazuki had an accident on lap two going into turn one and that was it for his race. We’ll now look ahead to a better performance in Barcelona.
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