Formula One news

Double-finish boost for Spyker

Spyker 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.

"I had a difficult start - after the last race, turn four is maybe my special turn!" exclaimed Sutil. "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 commented, "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 added, "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."

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