Race Notes
- George Russell finished 15th and Robert Kubica 16th in the Bahrain Grand Prix
- George started 19th on the soft Pirelli tyre, with Robert lining up 20th on the grid using the medium tyre
- George and Robert made clean starts picking up several positions, with the pair battling each other in the early stages of the race
- Both drivers ran a two-stop race, with George pitting on laps 12 and 26 for the medium tyre, and Robert stopping on lap 11 for the soft before switching back to the medium on lap 27
Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer: It has been another tough evening in Bahrain. The wind has been incredibly strong and very gusty which made driving the cars very difficult, and this was true for all drivers. We ran largely the strategy that we intended, and both cars were able to fight each other quite a lot, particularly in the first stint using DRS to attack and defend from each other. Credit to Robert and George as they drove extremely well and fought each other cleanly. Once the order settled down we continued to follow our strategy, we worked well to get both cars home, and we benefited from a few retirements at the end of the race.
George Russell: We know where we are at the moment, but it was a fun race for me. I had some nice little battles with Robert so I’m thankful to the team for letting us race as it was enjoyable. It was quite a good race from a personal perspective but obviously not too enjoyable finishing in P15. We know where we are fighting for, but we brought the car home and learned some more things.
Robert Kubica: It was a very tough race, but we expected that. The car balance issues that I am having put me in a difficult position today. Additionally, the wind didn’t help so it made it more complicated, but I had a few enjoyable laps when the tyres were fresh. However, I knew what was coming so I had to take care of the rubber and ensure that I kept the FW42 on track rather than concentrating on performance.
No comment