Sutil: There is still potential to improve everything

How would you review Bahrain?

I think it was a very good start to the season. We were very competitive in free practice, I was quickest in FP1, and then again in qualifying where both Tonio and myself were in the top 12. Last year we didn’t get through to Q2 in Bahrain so to come out and be in the top 12 is really positive. Everything went well until the start of the race for me and then I dropped back down the field but from the team perspective at least one car got into the points. But now we want to go even higher in Australia. I think there is still potential to improve everything and get close to the top five or six.

From your perspective how was the racing in Bahrain?

Well, after the start I dropped down to 21st position and I came 12th at the end of the race so it shows that you can overtake and have a good race. OK, some of the cars I passed were the new teams and we had a performance advantage over them, but in the midpoint of the race I was fighting with Kubica [Renault] and the two Saubers so you can pass with the new regulations, it was just higher up the field that people were very cautious. But then at the first race of the year you never know really how everything will behave in race trim. You do long run simulations in testing, but until you have the field around you it’s can never be 100% representative. Under these circumstances it’s natural to take care as you don’t want to be a DNF in the first race. But last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix was also not that interesting, with only refuelling and pit stops so never really overtaking possibilities. I think every driver was a bit cautious as it was the first race and we had to go a long distance on the soft tyre and nobody really knew the best way to call it. Now we will go to Australia and tweak it a bit more to the limit and start to be a more aggressive. I think there will be some more overtaking.

Looking to Australia now, what are your thoughts on the Albert Park circuit?

It’s one of my favourites. It’s quite a nice street circuit with a few run off areas through a park so it’s very beautiful. But it’s also very challenging with a lot of quick corners and a few slow speed corners so altogether it’s a great circuit to race on. I also have a lot of history there - I made my race debut for Spyker at the track in 2007, it was where Force India made their race debut the next year and then last year I was ninth. If we can get that position again this year that’s two points! We’ve got to aim for this or higher - I’m pretty happy with where we were in qualifying and how we performed in the Bahrain race so we’ve got a lot of reasons to look forward to Australia now.