Post-race press conference - Bahrain

F1 Grand Prix, GP Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit

The traditional press conference after the race was held with the top three finishers: Jenson Button who secured his third win of the season for Brawn GP, Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull and Jarno Trulli for Toyota.

Jenson BUTTON: It was indeed. This was a tough race for us. You might say I was leading for most of it but this race we had not the pace we had in the first three races. I don't know where it has gone. I guess these guys have just caught up and maybe passed us. But the first lap of the race I knew was very important because Sebastian was going longer, so I made it work and I came out of the first corner in third. From then on it was a tough race but very enjoyable.

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, a very good result for us. Good points, but as you said we will keep pushing. It was a difficult race. The start was quite okay but then I was surprised as all of a sudden there was Lewis (Hamilton) next to me. When I first looked in the mirrors he was not there but then I guess he pressed his special button and that gave him a bit of an advantage. At the first corner there were three, me in the middle and Jenson on the outside, so I had to give way and lost two positions in the first lap and then unfortunately I got stuck behind Lewis. I mean you might have a chance immediately to pass someone but then when you follow a car your tyres just go down. There is a lot of degradation. You start to slide and then you never really come back.

It is quite difficult here as it is always hard braking, so you need the tyres, you need the stability, so therefore it is difficult to pass. I knew I had a longer first stint which put me just behind Jarno, so that was a bit of a shame as I was on soft tyres and I could have gone a bit quicker. Then I got stuck behind him again but then I was able to overshoot, staying out a little bit longer, which put me in front of him. But then it was the other way around and I had to defend from him. The whole last sting he was very close in my mirrors. I think he was pushing hard but I made no mistakes, so in the end we came second.

Jarno TRULLI: Yeah, I am a little bit disappointed because I was waiting for the first win for Toyota. Unfortunately at the start I think I had oil spillage which cost me the first position. From then on it was a hard race as I was following my team-mate. I was going longer and then during the second stint we used a very long stint on the hard tyres, so I was trying to fight and it was really hard fighting with a lot of cars. I was not extremely quick but competitive being on the hard tyres and then eventually Sebastian took the position after my last stop. He was on the hard tyres and I was on the soft and I was pushing him. I was quicker but there was no way to overtake him, so that was how the race was. Page 2 of 6 I want to thank the team as they have done a very good job, so let's wait to fight again for the next race.

JB: It was. He is very difficult to overtake anyway but on the first lap he made a few mistakes and I dived down the inside of him at many different places. And on the straight I thought I could get alongside him and I did out of the last corner and then he pushed his button and pulled back in front and I had to tuck back in behind again and get the tow off him and I was able to get him into turn one. That move really made the race for us. I knew I had to make it stick and I did, so I am very happy. This race win for us is probably the best out of the lot as we don't have that competitive edge. And also it is the fourth flyaway. We have got a lot of bits that need to be changed and it is all getting a bit aged now, so to come away from this win it is great going back into Europe and we can look at improving the car.

SV: The problem is when you follow a car for more than one, one-and-a-half or two laps then your tyres really start to go off, front and rear. You start to have a lot of sliding and that was the problem, so both stints on soft tyres I was not able to use them really. The best car I had was with the hard tyres at the end which is unusual as that option wasn't the better tyre. But it makes a huge difference if you are able to run in clean air or not. That was the problem today and apart from that we had a good car. I think it is very positive anyway as I think we did a very good job in qualifying and we are getting closer to these boys, so not long and we will be very, very close.

JT: It was a good start in a way but unfortunately as you can probably see from the front I had an oil spillage, so basically the engine stopped when I was accelerating out and this cost me the position. Then I was basically following my team-mate. I knew I was going longer but obviously being behind is not always easy. I was struggling a little bit with the rear end of the car and just trying to push as hard as possible. In the end the race wasn't too bad but we expected a little bit more.

JT: Well, to be honest it is difficult for me now to judge. I need to go through it with the engineers. In a way they calculated everything and in general they have done a very good job for me, so I have to praise them as we managed to put both cars on the front row and we managed also to get on the podium. I think all in all the strategy wasn't too bad but we needed a little bit more pace.

JB: For us it is very difficult because of the heat. But this is one of those circuits that isn't really that physical, so we could cope. The engine, we were a little bit worried about, as the temperatures have been very high in testing and in qualifying and I wasn't able to do the running I would have liked, so to come away with the win at this point of the season I am chuffed to bits. The whole team should be very proud of themselves. They have worked so hard. As you probably know we are much smaller than we used to be and they are having to work doubly hard to get the job done, so I am very proud of all of them and they should be also. Page 3 of 6 PRESS CONFERENCE

JB: The first lap. To start with I got a poor start. I did a practice start coming into the pits and I was struggling with clutch slip and off the line I had exactly the same thing, so it was very lucky that I didn't lose more place. At the start the clutch slip wasn't too bad and then it was at turn one I had to make a move to get past Sebastian because they were obviously stopping later than us and it would have made the race very difficult. I was able to get around the outside and then the chance came up of getting past Lewis which was very difficult I must say because he was blocking very well but then at the last corner he made a slight mistake, so I pulled alongside him on the straight and I knew as soon as we got to the start-finish line he was going to push his KERS button and he did and he pulled away again, so I had to jump in behind and then did him into turn one. The first lap was what made the race really.

JB: Good. The end of the race may not have been so exciting but the start of the race was very good for me and chasing down the two Toyotas. They seemed very quick on the option tyre and I was surprised a little bit by the pace and I wasn't sure how it was going to work out. I didn't even know that Jarno was behind Timo at that point in time. But it all worked out well and Sebastian got stuck behind Lewis which helped us but the biggest problem for me was backmarkers. I am sorry if my radio was played live as I might have said a few words that weren't good for TV but the traffic was terrible out there. They were a long way in front but I just couldn't get any closer. Plus when I exited the pits and went down to turn four and (Robert) Kubica shot past me with his KERS and overtook me and unlapped himself which was a little bit frustrating. That was the most difficult thing for me, trying to stay on top of that.

JB: Brakes weren't too bad. We were worried going into the race a little bit about temperatures. On Friday and Saturday we were struggling a little bit and we thought we might have to run the race with reduced revs which would have been a disaster. But lucky enough we had clear air for most of it. We kept the engine reasonable cool and the brakes were fine, so we were in good shape. I think if Sebastian did not have the traffic it would have made the race very interesting as I think our pace was very similar but that was not to be and we obviously came away with the win which I am very happy about.

JB: Yeah, the last sort of 15 laps we had to conserve it a little bit as this is a lot hotter than what we expected. It is not just the engine but everything on the car including the driver, so conserving it a little bit. And with the way the regulations are these engines have to do a lot more running than normal, so you have to look after them a little bit.

SV: Yeah, it was difficult to pass him. The problem is in both stints, in the first and second stints, we were on the soft tyres and the soft tyres here were the quicker tyres, as I think more or less for the rest of the field. Coming back to the first stint the start was not ideal, maybe I was not careful enough. I should have gone maybe more to the right and tried to defend on Lewis. When I looked in the mirrors immediately after the start he was way behind me but then I underestimated his little button he had on his steering wheel and all of a sudden I had him on the right. I couldn't run on the outside as Jenson was already there, so I was stuck in the middle. I had to give way to both of them.

It was very close but basically then I was fifth. Very early in the race maybe I had a good chance to pass him. I was preparing for the last corner but I locked up the rear and all race it seemed very difficult to get a clean exit out of the last corner. It was very slippery there. Then I lost the momentum again. He Page 4 of 6 pressed his button and that was it. Basically from then onwards, as I just described, when you have to follow a car, your tyres suffer a lot. You get a lot of degradation and that made it difficult then to pass and to use the pace we had behind Lewis in the first stint and behind Jarno in the second stint. The only stint I had in clean air was the last one but I had the hard tyres.

Nevertheless for me the best stint was the last stint as the car was very consistent, getting quicker each lap. I was able to feel it more and more. Then I could play with the tyres. Obviously I had Jarno so I tried to save them in the beginning, so that at the end I had something to defend and it worked out well. But unfortunately the first two stints were behind traffic which spoilt our race a little bit. But nevertheless I think we are getting stronger. We are getting very close to these guys, so I hope not long, a couple of bits added to the car. Back in the UK, back in Milton Keynes, the people are pushing very hard and soon we will be able to fight them a bit more and give them a bit more of a hard time.

JT: Yeah, it was an interesting and tough race for me because I always found myself in a difficult situation. At the start, I was very unlucky because I think I had an oil spillage, so basically the engine didn't pull away and I lost position there. I lost a lot of ground and I was lucky enough to get out of the first corner second. Actually, I had to fight back against Lewis, firstly because he had KERS on the straight and secondly because the engine wasn't pulling at that time, so it was really hard. Going into turn four already wheel to wheel it was a nice battle, I didn't give up because I knew it was again important for me to stay ahead.

Actually I started following my team-mate. The car wasn't too bad, the rear end was starting to go away, so I was struggling a little bit. Then, during the second stint, I had hard tyres and I was defending a lot of cars, as you say, a lot of battling there, obviously with cars that were lighter than mine. We were there to stop after a few laps. We were fighting with Sebastian until the end.

I was on hard tyres and he was on soft, so actually he was biting my tail for most of the race and at the end, I was on soft and was quicker than him and he was on hard and I was trying to bite his tail and there was basically no way that he could get past. It was a nice race. It was a shame at the start but I'm happy because I did fight very hard and it was a good podium for Toyota.

JT: It's not the fact that I had a problem with brakes because they were worn, there was something wrong with the brakes during qualifying, there was a problem and actually we changed them. I didn't have any problem during the race as well as during the whole weekend. So it was just a safety issue because we saw during qualifying that there was something wrong with the brakes and we didn't want to blow them up. It was maybe something with that particular disc. During the race it was fine.

Questions from the floor

JB: I'd certainly say it was the finest first lap of my career, for sure. I was very happy with the race. I didn't feel that I put a foot a wrong at all. It's nice to be in a car where I can show what I can do, even in a difficult situation because it wasn't a perfect situation. It's a very special feeling to have got this win. And thanks to the Ginger Racer, as I call him, for those nice comments.

JB: There's nothing different this race to the last race. We didn't expect it to be as hot as it is here. All weekend we've been struggling a little bit and even in qualifying I couldn't do three laps hard. I had to do a quick lap, slow lap, quick lap. It made it very difficult in practice as well because you couldn't get the long run pace. It's been a tough weekend from that point of view and if we were sat behind a car Page 5 of 6 for a stint like these two were, it would have been no way. We would have had to drop back two or three seconds to get some clear air.

So that's a weakness but luckily enough I had the clear air and our reliability was very good. I'm sure we've got to look at what damage it's caused for the next races because you know these engines have to do a lot more mileage than normal, so we will see. But the win was more important, I felt, and we came away with a very special win this weekend, for sure. As for the heat, my feet were warm and I've burned the top of my left buttock on a box – there's an electrical box there. It's a little bit burned, so hopefully we can solve that issue. I'll get you stroking it later, Sebastian, don't worry!

JB: Well, at the moment you would say that these three teams sat here have been the most consistent, you're right, but I would say that the McLarens seem to be a lot more competitive this weekend. They made a step forward in China. Supposedly they haven't had anything new on the car here but they've moved forward a lot and Lewis ended up fourth. They've obviously done a good job, so you can't forget McLaren. When we start in Europe I'm sure they are going to have some new parts and they are going to be very competitive. It's positive that we've got some points on them already.

SV: There's a long, long way to go, we've done just four races. As Jenson said, I think his team has made the strongest impression so far. We are pushing very hard, we are getting closer, so especially on Saturdays we seem to get much stronger. Today, obviously, I was sometimes stuck in traffic but I think all the teams are pushing, the championship is very interesting.

You may not forget the teams (that were dominant) the last couple of years, McLaren as well as Ferrari. They have a lot of resources and they have proven in the past that even if they have a bad start they can come back very quickly, so we have to keep pushing and for us, we want to be the best, and there is at least one team still in front of us, so we have to keep pushing hard.

JT: Well, it's definitely going to be an interesting season because of the changes and it gives quite an open window for development from all teams. I have faith in my team, they know very well that four races is very little. We've got a lot of races to go until the end of the championship, so we need to develop the car, get better and I can see already some signs of improvement from other teams.

If you look at these races, there are some teams that made quite a bit step compared to the first two races, so I definitely expect a big fight during the season and I also expect quite a mix of leading cars and teams during all the races. This is nice, it's nice for everyone. I was on pole, Sebastian won the last race and obviously the most consistent car and driver at the moment is Jenson with the Brawn but also Toyota and Williams are doing well, Red Bull but there are some teams which are really getting close, so we need to keep pushing.

JB: We've had four races; they've been pretty important to us, especially at the start of the season when people have got reliability issues or making mistakes, we've been able to pick up the points which is great. When we get to Europe we don't know where anyone is going to be. We know that these two teams alongside me here are going to be competitive but we don't know how and the same for McLaren. We have an upgrade coming in Barcelona, I just hope it's enough. We have to wait and see. Nobody knows. And the thing is we can't go testing either, so we don't get that chance to get the feel for it. So it's exciting going back to Europe and I think that for Formula One this is great. There's so much change already in the sport and going back to Europe it's going to be even more change. I think that's what this sport needed and I think we've got it.

JB: Well, he didn't actually use his KERS to get me, I don't think, because he was past me before he actually got to 100kph. You don't really think about it at that point in time, you just get your head down Page 6 of 6 and see what you can do at the first corner. Our braking is good here and I knew that I had looked after the tyres and got them in good shape for the first corner under the brakes, so I knew that I could brake very late and it showed in turn one, so yeah, I knew that I had to get past Sebastian, that was the main thing, and if I could get past Lewis that was a bonus.

JB: Well, every race is exciting and if you can stand on the top step afterwards it's exhilarating but if I don't win a race... for example in Shanghai I was happy to finish on the podium but when you've won two races the win is exciting and that's the same for all of us. We're all racing drivers, we all want to win the race but it's still not easy at the front. Our car is competitive but it's still not easy to drive and that's something that we need to work on because I had a lot of moments during the race where I was wide, locked up rears or fronts. Maybe it's not just the way that our car was balanced, maybe it's just a new set-up on the car, the way it works but you see a lot of people getting out of shape now. It's tough for us but maybe good for you guys to watch.

JT: Yeah, we were not sure about the soft tyres. Obviously the team had a better idea than me with all the data collected during the winter and this season we were not actually sure about the soft tyres, how many laps they could remain competitive. That was one of the reasons behind the choice. It didn't work out but in the end it is still a podium, still a good race but obviously the target was to win a race but I think we still have to improve our pace.