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08 April,2008 (Tue)

Thank you again for your support over the weekend. With the coming of April, the F1 World Championship arrived in the Middle East for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Here is my report from the race.

Looking to judge the genuine worth of the TF108 under gusting 15m/sec winds

What surprised me most in Bahrain was the strength of the wind. The weather reports called for somewhat strong winds on Friday, with seven– to eight-meter winds on Saturday and Sunday, sometimes gusting up to 15 meters per second. Bahrain is already known as a windy circuit, and we struggled quite a bit with the wind last year. That experience is what led us to developing a car this year that is more stable under the wind. In all honesty, I was excited to see how our efforts would pay off in windy conditions. We were one of the few teams that tested in Bahrain in February, so we really wanted to take advantage of that fact as well. With Jarno (Trulli) finishing 4th in Malaysia, team morale is high, which added to my desire to place well at the Bahrain GP.

Jarno turns in superb, stable long–runs on soft tires in Friday practice

Owing at least partly to our Bahrain tests in February, our weekend started out very smoothly. We were able to move through our program without any significant setbacks. At the Bahrain GP last year, we selected a hard and medium tire compound from the four Bridgestone types available, but this year only a combination of medium and soft tires was provided. Friday we mainly evaluated the soft compound. We looked very good on long runs, and Jarno’s stable performance in particular gave us high confidence going into the race.

We have been developing a new nose and new front wing parts for the upcoming Spanish GP, but finishing development sooner than expected, we brought the new equipment with us to Bahrain. We put the new parts on both cars during Friday morning practice, but didn’t particularly see the effects we hoped for at this circuit. Deciding that we wouldns be able to effectively use the new equipment here in the desert, we went back to our original front wing and nose package.

The issue for Saturday was our one-lap speeds, which weren’t as satisfactory as our strong long–run performance. With practice time still available, we used the Saturday morning session to prepare ourselves for qualifying, the goal being getting both cars into the final qualifying period for the third consecutive race.

Jarno qualifies in top 10; Timo falls short of improving his best

Looking to improve our setting from Friday, we tried several different combinations during Saturday morning practice. Unfortunately, none of the modifications were very effective; ultimately, we moved everything back to the setting that produced such splendid long-run performances on Friday, and headed into qualifying.

The wind died down somewhat Saturday afternoon, not affecting us as much as we had feared. Even so, it was a steady two meter–per–second breeze, making for more difficult conditions than at other grand prix sites. Both cars were able to make it past the first qualifying period for the third consecutive race. Unfortunately, Timo (Glock) was unable to improve his best lap time during his second attack run in the following qualifying period, making me keenly aware that we still have improvements we need to make in the car.

After the second qualifying period, we ran into trouble with the power in Jarno’s fuel rig. The pit was a flurry of panicked activity for a short time, but the quick response of the crew allowed us to load fuel according to plan, and everything turned out fine. Jarno answered with his own strong performance, securing P7 on the starting grid. I would have liked to have been ahead of at least one of the BMW Sauber machines, but I decided to leave that as something to look forward to for Sunday. We expected that Jarno would win championship points at the very least, hopefully fighting for a podium finish at best.

Not to mention that Timo was in position to win points as well, but our first goal was to have him finish a complete race. If both drivers completed the race, we figured that both cars would likely finish in the points.

Both cars complete the race for the first time this season, with Timo marking his first end–to–end finish

While we didn’t score a perfect 100 on our exam, I think Panasonic Toyota Racing ran a fine race. I have nothing but praise for Jarno’s performance, as he finished in the points for the second GP in a row. Jarno was forced to drive very carefully during the first stint, enduring attacks from rival teams while carefully avoiding oil patches left on the track by other cars. The following stints saw Jarno driving stable, sharp laps, leaving no doubt as he protected his position behind the top three teams.

Teammate Timo also drove a splendid race today. Timo skillfully wound through the snarled traffic after the start of the race to gain position. The perfect performance of the crew during the first pit stop let Timo gain yet another position, putting him at P9. The control system for Timo’s gearbox started causing problems, forcing Timo to switch to backup mode during the race. This was doubly unfortunate, because I truly believe Timo had a strong chance to score points if the problem hadn’t occurred. Timo’s pace was exceptional, and I think we took away some valuable lessons from Sunday’s race. More than anything, I think Timo’s recording a complete race for the first time this season was a tremendous confidence builder.

We plan on introducing an updated aero package at the joint Barcelona tests, which will be held immediately prior to the Spanish GP. Panasonic Toyota Racing will be working to cut into the 40 second gap with the top cars in advance of the European Round, and we ask for your continued support in our efforts.

Noritoshi Arai in Sakhir. It was a rewarding race, with Jarno scoring points for the second consecutive GP, and both cars finishing a complete race for the first time this season. Panasonic Toyota Racing will be looking to make even further advances during next week’s Barcelona tests.