Double finish for Spyker
The Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team has secured a double finish today at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the team's best result of the season so far, with Christijan Albers claiming 14th position and Adrian Sutil 15th.
Despite achieving its weekend objective, the race was not without incident for either driver. On the first lap, Adrian was a victim of a clash between Jenson Button and Scott Speed. Running just behind the two when they touched coming into turn four, Adrian was unable to avoid the accident debris and damaged his nosebox. The German came into the pits for a nosecone change under the ensuing safety car period, however lost three laps to the field when technicians discovered the nose pins had been damaged and required extensive repairs. Out of contention but undeterred, Adrian pushed hard throughout the race to make up one lap up on team-mate Christijan.
Christijan had a good start to move up three places and put pressure on Barrichello in the early stages of the race. The Dutchman put in some consistent lap times mid-race despite struggling with oversteer, but his pace was limited by a hydraulic problem in the final 10 laps.
Pleased nevertheless with achieving its weekend objective of getting two cars to the finish, the team now goes back to its UK base to continue its development work.
Adrian Sutil "I had a difficult start - after the last race, turn four is maybe my special turn! Suddenly the cars in front stopped and I couldn't avoid them and lost the front wing. I lost three laps with the repairs and the car wasn't the easiest to drive; when it had a lot of fuel in, the balance was completely different. I did do some consistent lap times during the race though and didn't make any mistakes and in the end I am happy as this was the goal. I feel confident now going into the European season."
Christijan Albers "Even when I was running alone it was still quite tough as we had no radio and I had too much oversteer in the first stint. We made a change to the front wing in the first pit stop, which did make it a little better especially at the end when the track became quicker. Although I was not totally happy with the set-up I think we should be happy to finish the race, particularly as I had some hydraulic problems at the end. I'm pleased for the guys too that we got two cars to the finish."
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer "It's good to get two cars to the finish. Adrian obviously had a problem on the first lap when he lost his nosebox. With the safety car period afterwards, it would not normally be a problem, but unfortunately he had bent the nosebox pins. We were able to fix it though and get him out, albeit three laps down, and he drove a strong race with very good pace. Christijan had a few problems in race, especially in the last stint where he lost hydraulic pressure and clutch and diff control. It's positive though to get two cars to the finish, a lot of our rivals didn't get there, and from this we can get stronger and start to move forward."
Colin Kolles, team principal and managing director "Getting two cars to the finish is a great reward for all the efforts of the mechanics here and guys back at the factory, they've put a lot of work in over the last two races, so well done to them. It was our goal this weekend, but now we've got to look forward to the rest of the season and continue to progress."
