Debutants in Bahrain raring to go

The Toro Rosso drivers Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz are both eagerly awaiting their first F1 race under spotlights and their first race in Bahrain. “I have been to Bahrain. I’ve actually raced on the go-kart track next to the Formula 1 circuit. But my only ‘real’ experience of where we will be racing this weekend consists of one lap on a bicycle!” says Max Verstappen ahead of this weekend’s action.

Having only started racing cars in 2014, Verstappen frequently will be meeting ‘firsts’ during this season of F1. The young Dutchman says he’s looking forward to making his night race debut. “I’m sure it will be an interesting experience. In fact it’s not exactly something completely new as I have raced go-karts at night before. What I like about night races is that the track gets cooler, which means it’s faster, and this is always good.”

While Carlos Sainz has more pre-F1 racing experience under his belt, he also makes his Bahrain debut this weekend. While he has raced in a night race in GP3 before, he says it will be ‘something different’ to do it in an F1 car.

“This track usually produces a good race and last year I remember it was one of the highlights of the season. Racing at night in a Formula 1 car will be an interesting challenge, although I have competed in a GP3 night race in Abu Dhabi. The Sakhir track has got long straights that create quite a lot of overtaking opportunities,” he adds.