Indeed Barrichello reckons that if they get qualifying right, they might be able to finish in the top eight and score an odd point.
“For the last two race weekends we've had a bad qualifying and then the races have shown that we could have been closer to the points had we not suffered on Saturdays. For the next race our focus has to be on improving our qualifying performance and that's all we can do to move forward for now," stated the Brazilian.
Honda's senior technical director, Shuhei Nakamoto meanwhile agreed with that assessment, but still, he isn’t expecting much this weekend.
"In Malaysia both Rubens and Jenson were able to finish in a good position considering their starting positions,” he told the teams’ official website. “Although our car is not competitive at the moment, we were able to extract the maximum performance possible.
“As we are unable to test before Bahrain we should expect another tough race but back in the factory we are working relentlessly on developments which should enable us to make steady improvements once we begin the European season."
BMW Sauber – Nick Heidfeld (#9), Robert Kubica (#10):
BMW Sauber secured another fourth place in Malaysia to confirm itself as 'best of the rest' on race pace at least, but also had to contend with further technical problems that meant only Nick Heidfeld scored.
While technical director Willy Rampf is confident that the team can continue its form to maintain that third role, Robert Kubica will be hoping he gets the chance to open his account after two disappointing results in Australia and Malaysia. The Pole is returning to the scene of his first race weekend outing in an
F1 car, and he and Heidfeld are counting on data from February's group test to keep them in the frame.
"The fact the circuit lies in the middle of the desert makes it somewhat special," Heidfeld commented, "If it is windy, the track becomes very sandy, and this has an influence on our driving because it means loss of grip and it is also hard on the machinery, but, this year, almost every team has current data from Bahrain because we had this double test at the end of February."
