Points are our target - Liuzzi

F1 Grand Prix, GP Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit

After a busy winter testing schedule, the Force India Formula One Team drivers can finally look forward to the first race of the 2010 FIA F1 Championship season. Tonio Liuzzi targets points at the Bahrain International Circuit and hopes to get into the top ten.

Tonio Liuzzi (car 15, VJM03/01):
You covered a lot of kilometres in pre-season testing. How did that go for you? "I had five and a half days in the car and I learnt a lot of things about the car over this time. We had several test items to get to the optimum level for the start of the season and generally every item we tested had a positive effect. The car responds very well to any change, it's definitely going in the right direction. For sure the weather didn't help, but fortunately the car showed formidable reliability and performance, so in my mind there is a really strong preparation for Bahrain and the rest of the season."

How would you judge this car compared to the other cars you have driven in your career? "In my five years of F1 this is definitely the best car I've driven, It's the most balanced, and knowing that has made me feel so much stronger and confident. Of course you can never know exactly where you are compared to the others but we can go to Bahrain feeling optimistic and positive."

And Bahrain has a new track lay-out. Have you had a chance to look at this? "I've had a look on Google earth and on the simulator. I think they have just made it much longer and slower and I'm not a big fan of this type of track as I love high speed corners and circuits. I don't think there will be any more overtaking opportunities as the track goes through too tight an area. But it's the same for everybody and we need to get used it. We'll see when we walk the track on Thursday."

What are your aims for this race? "For the first race we want to show that our winter work has paid off. Points are our target for the time being and getting into the top ten, as high as possible. Being realistic, a few points should be feasible and hopefully everything goes as well as in testing with good reliability for the first race."