After a good start to the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship, Carlos Sainz Jr is looking forward to the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend.
The Spaniard finished the Australian Grand Prix in ninth and finished ahead of Scuderia Toro Rosso team-mate Max Verstappen, but will be looking to improve on last year at the Sakhir International Circuit when Sainz retired from the race after reporting a loose wheel following a pit-stop.
“Turn 1 is very tight at the start, meaning that a lot of cars need to fit in a small space,” said Sainz. “I remember having a tough moment through Turns 1 and 2 at the start last year, with a lot of cars bunching up.
“The race takes place at night, so your braking points change during the weekend and you take your references from FP2. Last year we struggled a bit with top speed, so it was all about getting a lot of traction out of there – I remember this straight being a bit too long for us…Maybe no longer that much this year!”
Team-mate Verstappen is looking forward to racing in Bahrain this weekend as it’s special to race in the evening. He is also hoping the team can score some points as the Faenza-outfit have never scored any in Bahrain.
“The Bahrain circuit has a very long straight and they overtook me quite a few times there in 2015,” said Verstappen. “Turns 5, 6 and 7 were a bit tough to get right when it was dark as the braking points change, but it’s still a nice part of the track as I always enjoy the fast corners.
“Turns 9 and 10 were quite difficult for the front-locking and it’s easy to flat-spot your tyres there – something you don’t want to do during a race! In general, it’s special to race in the evening, while it’s getting dark. Hopefully this year we will score some points there, because Toro Rosso has never scored any in Bahrain! So this is definitely a good target that I will be looking to achieve.”
