Bahrain preview quotes: Force India

Q. Paul, sum up your feelings after the Chinese Grand Prix...

PdR: I don't think we were too far away in terms of pace, but it simply wasn't enough to come away with any points. I made a good start, had a good opening lap and battled through to keep in contention with the main pack for the whole race. Points were always in sight and at times I was just ten seconds away from second place, but without any real incidents ahead of us it was difficult to break into the top ten.

Q. Can we expect a similar level of performance in Bahrain?

PdR: We will have the same car in Bahrain because it's just a few days away, but it's a very different track and we expect different weather conditions so we will try to make the most out of that. The team have some good ideas because we have not raced there for a couple of years and nobody has had a chance to run on Pirellis there yet.

Nico Hulkenberg

Q. Nico, a tough Chinese Grand Prix for you, but there were some positives to take from the weekend...

NH: I think we showed that we had pretty good race pace, especially in the final third of the race when I was catching up with the main pack, but it was a long way back after a difficult opening stint. My start wasn't very good and I had to pit for a new nose which cost me a lot of time. After that it was a race all by myself along with the Toro Rosso of Vergne.

Q. You made your Grand Prix debut in Bahrain in 2010. Tell us about the track...

NH: I enjoy the track, which has quite a nice rhythm and some technical corners, such as turns nine and ten. It's in the desert and sand can be an issue on the track, but it really depends on the strength and direction of the wind. I think the secret to a good lap is not to be too aggressive into the braking zones because you need to carry good speed through the middle of the corners and get early on the throttle to carry the speed onto the straights. Overtaking is possible, especially into turn one because you can pick up a good slipstream down the straight.