Preview Quotes from the Marussia Team ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP.
Jules Bianchi, Marussia
2012 Qualifying – n/a, 2012 Race – n/a
“We enjoyed a very strong race in India last weekend, so we are keen to carry this momentum forward with the advantage of just one week between races. Abu Dhabi is a fantastic venue to race at and I enjoyed the track a lot when I drove in FP1 last year. It’s quite exciting to be able to start a race in full daylight and finish it at night with the track artificially lit – another new and interesting experience for me. Our car performance is quite strong at the moment and we have the new suspension development to work with again here, so I’m really hoping for a race where I am finally able to make the most of those factors.”
Max Chilton, Marussia
2012 Qualifying – n/a, 2012 Race – n/a
“Taking part in FP1 at the Yas Marina Circuit last year was one of the highlights of my career and racing here for the first time is certainly one of the things I have been most looking forward to in my debut season. It’s a great circuit, in a part of the world I love. With GP2 Series running with us here in Abu Dhabi it has been nice to spend some time ahead of the business end of the week training and relaxing with drivers I raced alongside over the past few years. I had a great race last Sunday and it has been nice to reflect on that and think about how we can maintain our current stride with three very important race weekends remaining. Yas Marina Circuit is a tough track technically and physically, but I’m feeling confident and aiming for a repeat performance from India.”
John Booth, Marussia team principal
“The Abu Dhabi GP will be another tough back-to-back for the race team, who have been pretty much straight on the case with unpacking the freight from India and setting up for the weekend ahead. The task is made easier by the fact that Yas Marina Circuit is a magnificent track – aesthetically pleasing, technically interesting and demanding of drivers and engineers. The Drivers’ Championship may have been decided but for us there are still three critical races ahead. We took a great deal of heart from our performance in New Delhi last weekend and we would hope to continue in much the same vein here this weekend. We will conduct a further evaluation of our new suspension developments on Friday morning and see how things go from there. Generally we are feeling positive about our current performance level.”
