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Bahrain GP: Post Race press conference

NEWS STORY
26/04/2009

Jenson, the dream start to the year continues. And this was a dry race, this was a race all the way.
Jenson Button: It was indeed. This was a tough race for us. You might say I was leading for most of it but this race we had not the pace we had in the first three races. I don't know where it has gone. I guess these guys have just caught up and maybe passed us. But the first lap of the race I knew was very important because Sebastian was going longer, so I made it work and I came out of the first corner in third. From then on it was a tough race but very enjoyable.

Sebastian, a great result for you too. A hard race and in a lot of traffic. A tyre defined race in many ways but in the end you are on the podium again.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, a very good result for us. Good points, but as you said we will keep pushing. It was a difficult race. The start was quite okay but then I was surprised as all of a sudden there was Lewis (Hamilton) next to me. When I first looked in the mirrors he was not there but then I guess he pressed his special button and that gave him a bit of an advantage. At the first corner there were three, me in the middle and Jenson on the outside, so I had to give way and lost two positions in the first lap and then unfortunately I got stuck behind Lewis. I mean you might have a chance immediately to pass someone but then when you follow a car your tyres just go down. There is a lot of degradation. You start to slide and then you never really come back. It is quite difficult here as it is always hard braking, so you need the tyres, you need the stability, so therefore it is difficult to pass. I knew I had a longer first stint which put me just behind Jarno, so that was a bit of a shame as I was on soft tyres and I could have gone a bit quicker. Then I got stuck behind him again but then I was able to overshoot, staying out a little bit longer, which put me in front of him. But then it was the other way around and I had to defend from him. The whole last sting he was very close in my mirrors. I think he was pushing hard but I made no mistakes, so in the end we came second.

Jarno, a relatively early pit stop and unlike most runners a switch to the hard tyre for the middle stint.
Jarno Trulli: Yeah, I am a little bit disappointed because I was waiting for the first win for Toyota. Unfortunately at the start I think I had oil spillage which cost me the first position. From then on it was a hard race as I was following my team-mate. I was going longer and then during the second stint we used a very long stint on the hard tyres, so I was trying to fight and it was really hard fighting with a lot of cars. I was not extremely quick but competitive being on the hard tyres and then eventually Sebastian took the position after my last stop. He was on the hard tyres and I was on the soft and I was pushing him. I was quicker but there was no way to overtake him, so that was how the race was. I want to thank the team as they have done a very good job, so let's wait to fight again for the next race.

Jenson, as Sebastian said, he did get stuck behind Lewis Hamilton. But you had an interesting battle with Lewis and managed to get the better of him very early in the race and that proved to be decisive.
JB: It was. He is very difficult to overtake anyway but on the first lap he made a few mistakes and I dived down the inside of him at many different places. And on the straight I thought I could get alongside him and I did out of the last corner and then he pushed his button and pulled back in front and I had to tuck back in behind again and get the tow off him and I was able to get him into turn one. That move really made the race for us. I knew I had to make it stick and I did, so I am very happy. This race win for us is probably the best out of the lot as we don't have that competitive edge. And also it is the fourth flyaway. We have got a lot of bits that need to be changed and it is all getting a bit aged now, so to come away from this win it is great going back into Europe and we can look at improving the car.

Sebastian, you were held up behind Lewis Hamilton for a lot of the race. Let's have a look now and talk us through what the conditions were like for you at that moment, what the tyres were like and the difference between the tyres and what it is like in traffic.
SV: The problem is when you follow a car for more than one, one-and-a-half or two laps then your tyres really start to go off, front and rear. You start to have a lot of sliding and that was the problem, so both stints on soft tyres I was not able to use them really. The best car I had was with the hard tyres at the end which is unusual as that option wasn't the better tyre. But it makes a huge difference if you are able to run in clean air or not. That was the problem today and apart from that we had a good car. I think it is very positive anyway as I think we did a very good job in qualifying and we are getting closer to these boys, so not long and we will be very, very close.

Jarno, you started from pole but it did not translate into a lead at the first corner. Let's have a look at the start and perhaps you can tell us what was going on.
JT: It was a good start in a way but unfortunately as you can probably see from the front I had an oil spillage, so basically the engine stopped when I was accelerating out and this cost me the position. Then I was basically following my team-mate. I knew I was going longer but obviously being behind is not always easy. I was struggling a little bit with the rear end of the car and just trying to push as hard as possible. In the end the race wasn't too bad but we expected a little bit more.

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