Bahrain GP: Sauber race notes

Team Sauber Petronas drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa finished 11th and 12th respectively in today's inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir.

Giancarlo Fisichella:

"At the beginning my car felt fine, but after the first stop it developed huge understeer, and later it felt like the engine lost power a little. I also had problems in my last two stops when I called for first gear but each time got second. And, of course, Ralf Schumacher spun me on lap 31. Without these problems, especially Ralf, I think we could have challenged for a point today."

Felipe Massa:

"I lost a bit of ground in the first corner because things got very tight, and in the first part of the race I was really struggling for grip and had a big vibration, possibly from the tyres. The car felt very unstable. It was a lot better on the last set but, overall, this was a very tough race for us."

Peter Sauber (Team Principal):

"As great a venue and event as the first Bahrain Grand Prix undoubtedly was, unfortunately this was not our race. We have to work on the performance side, and on improving our speed during out laps after pit stops. We look forward to Bahrain 2005!"

Driver (Chassis)
Giancarlo Fisichella (C23-04): 11th
Felipe Massa (C23-03): 12th
Spare (C23-01)

-sauber-