Bahrain 2016 - GP Preview - Red Bull Tag Heuer

Daniel Ricciardo

“I think the track’s always been pretty fun to race on, I feel I’ve always had good results at this track, and there are good places for overtaking. Since it’s been a night race it’s become a lot more exciting. The tyres last a bit longer and you can push a bit harder throughout the race so it’s been a good challenge the last few years and a place I’ve always enjoyed. There’s not really one standout corner that’s like ‘woah’ but it’s all pretty cool and the middle sector is quite fun. Night races are fun, for whatever reason it feels like you go a bit faster at night, so it’s exciting. If every race was a night race it wouldn’t have that same atmosphere so it’s cool that we have a few across the year.

“The track is good for overtaking, the last corner flows quite well and if you can get close for DRS you can get a good run into Turn 1. If you don’t get it into Turn 1, then there’s Turn 4 or the middle sectors where it’s easy to make mistakes. There’s probably four places you can pass on the track which is pretty good. The track does suit us, the last couple of years we’ve had a pretty good result, so hopefully we can continue that this year as well.”

Daniil Kvyat

“I like the weather in Bahrain and the track is good. It might look like a simple, modern track but actually it’s very challenging to put a strong lap together. I like that Bahrain is a night race, it gives it some passion! And night racing feels like you are going into space!

“The races in Bahrain are good, there is a long main straight and good overtaking opportunity after Turn 1. Then there is the tow again to Turn 4, so there are good opportunities to race. This is where most of the racing happens in Turn 1, Turn 2, and Turn 4 and maybe Turn 8 as well sometimes.

“To me, this track has been OK, last year there were a few issues, but in the race it was fine. I had an OK race there when I was at STR as well. There is a long straight which was our weakness last year but this year we are looking to find some improvements so it could turn out to be quite a competitive track for us. If we can grab a few good points for both cars, that would be great.”