Pierre Gasly: “Reflecting on Suzuka, it was a challenging weekend for the team.
“During the race, the car felt good and we had a nice balance but, like most of the field, we were stuck behind the car in front. We just lack in a few areas, and we know where we can improve the overall package. It appears Qualifying is even more important right now and just two tenths of a second is splitting multiple cars, so it is really important we maximise all the fine details. We leave Japan knowing what we need to do to find a bit more pace ahead of the rest of the triple header. I’m looking forward to returning to Bahrain this weekend, where we performed well during pre-season testing. Bahrain is a track that has intense tyre wear, but we know what to expect after the three days of testing in February even with this year’s unique, cold conditions. We’re expecting a much hotter, more normal weekend this time around and hope to build on our pre-season pace and come away with a top-10 result.”
Jack Doohan: “The week in Japan was tough but not without its positives. We were able to move up a handful of places over the course of the race and the pace of the car felt better than the first two rounds, which is a good sign coming into Bahrain.
“Thank you again to the team for working tirelessly across the whole weekend, I am grateful for the hard work and effort from everyone. We are taking the days between the races to recharge ahead of this weekend and aim to come into it feeling fresh. Bahrain is a track I know quite well from my junior days, having raced there over the past few years in Formula 2. We also had three good days in February for pre-season testing, which we are keen to build off and take our knowledge from that forwards to this race. The goal will be to set ourselves up ahead of Qualifying and hopefully be in a good position to capitalise and strive for points on Sunday when it matters.”
