F1: Bahrain preview quotes

      
After a thrilling race in Shanghai, the F1 paddock moves rapidly from the Far East to the Middle East for round four of the 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship, the 2013 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir. Those involved discuss their prospects for the desert event…
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
2012 Qualifying - 1st, 2012 Race - 1st
“The positive of back-to-back races is that on the Friday of the second race, you get into the rhythm quickly. You save time by travelling direct from one race to the next and can adapt to the time zone a bit quicker, as you don‘t have to travel so far. The only thing is that there‘s not much time for physical and mental recovery after the first race. I make the most of the Monday after the first race, in terms of relaxing and recovery. On the Tuesday, I do some easy training in the gym or some badminton, to keep the body and mind in correct mode. It‘s important that the race calender is well balanced so that drivers can get proper rest periods in order to be able to push 100 percent at each event. This means that sometimes it is good to have back-to-back races and then some longer breaks. The circuit in Bahrain? The corners can fool you and lead to errors because the track is very wide and quite often the apex of the corner is not obvious. For example the apex of Turn 14 is hidden as you approach it.” 
Mark Webber, Red Bull
2012 Qualifying - 3rd, 2012 Race - 4th
“The benefit of back-to-back races is that we like racing and it’s another opportunity to go racing again soon, so that’s a positive. We’re already roughly in the same part of the world, so back-to-back races can be an efficient way for us to go racing; as an industry it’s good organisation. It’s important to make sure you get ready for the next race off the back of the first one, so travelling as soon as you can is important. If you have a very big result at the first race then you’re not going to stay in the night club too long that evening celebrating, as you need to make sure you’re ready for the next event. It’s a short turnaround; you want to make sure that the training is sensible and you’re keeping yourself healthy. It’s good to have a back-to-back, then a bit of a break, and then back-to-back again. When we’re off we have a bit of a chance to regroup. My favourite corner of the Bahrain Circuit? I quite like the last sector, Turns 12 and 13, up over the crest, that’s a nice part of the lap. It’s a little bit quicker, because the rest of the track is quite slow and not super exhilarating. There are some quick-ish corners, which are quite rewarding.”
Jenson Button, McLaren
2012 Qualifying - 4th, 2012 Race - 18th
“The Sakhir circuit requires a good overall car balance. There are some tricky and technical low-speed changes of direction; you need to place the car really precisely at the corner entry in order to maximise traction at the exit. And there are also some high-speed sweeps – Turns Six and Seven, for example – and some fast corners, such as the uphill left-hander at Turn 11. You need a good front-end, but also good traction, to get the best from those corners. It’s a place where the grip levels can be quite hard to anticipate, and where the wind direction can play quite an important part in determining the car’s balance. The wind can affect top speed and cornering performance, so practice will be more important than ever in enabling us to take the best overall package into qualifying and the race.”
Sergio Perez, McLaren
2012 Qualifying - 8th, 2012 Race - 11th
“The Bahrain Grand Prix circuit has plenty of run-off and a good combination of high- and low-speed corners. The challenge for the drivers comes from the constantly evolving nature of the corners, and dealing with the sand – which gets blown onto different areas of the track from the surrounding desert. With two DRS zones, I think we should see some decent racing: the two best overtaking opportunities are into the Turn One and Turn Four hairpins. They’re both good places to attack – you can force another driver onto the inside line and then attack on the exit, when they’re more vulnerable. The second DRS zone will mainly be used to close the gap down to the car in front, before attacking again along the pits straight.”
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
2012 Qualifying - 5th, 2012 Race - 5th
“I'll be really happy to get back in the car again on Friday after a tough weekend in Shanghai. The first three races haven't quite worked out as we had hoped on my side but the positive is that we have a car that we can really work with. So I'm looking forward to getting on with this weekend and the circuit at Sakhir is one that I like very much. It's going to be very tough on the rear tyres and our biggest challenge will be to make the most out of the situation. We're better prepared than we were last year and we have shown that the car is much stronger so I really hope that we can achieve a great result in Bahrain.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2012 Qualifying - 2nd, 2012 Race - 8th
“The weekend in China was really positive for both me and the team. With each race, I am becoming more settled in the team and more comfortable in my car, and we were very happy with the pole and podium finish. There are some areas where we need to improve to close that gap to the fastest cars and we're working hard to identify and develop those. There's a limit to what we can do before Bahrain but I'll be talking to my engineers before we arrive at the circuit and seeing where we can improve in the short term. The Bahrain circuit is a real challenge, particularly for the tyres with overheating and also the sand on the track, but this helps to make it unique. The layout has a great combination of fast, slow and medium corners which make it tough for the drivers and the car, so it will be a true test for us. I can't wait to get back in the car and see what we can do."