“We have worked extremely hard since the Bahrain season opener,” said team principal Colin Kolles. “We have worked long hours and successfully with Bridgestone, Cosworth and Xtrac learned from our first laps with the car and found a good basis from which to start preparation for our second Grand Prix in Australia in a few days.

“We have successfully repaired the damage sustained by Karun Chandhok’s car and focused on building our car’s reliability. Our goal is to improve steadily and the next step is to work towards our first race finish. I am confident we will achieve this goal very soon and having seen how we came together as a team in Bahrain I can see just how much potential and commitment we have.”

Chandhok covered just eight laps over the course of the Bahrain weekend, with technical issues on his car preventing him from carrying out any practice runs. He completed seven laps in qualifying and just one in the race itself, before spinning off into retirement. Despite his troubles, the Indian is optimistic about Australia.

“I am really looking forward to my second F1 race this weekend,” he said. “I have never driven in Melbourne, but I am a very quick learner. I was able to work on a team’s simulator before the Grand Prix so that will help my familiarisation a little bit! Our next step with the team’s engineers is to make the car reliable for the race. The secret of good racing preparation is to complete as many laps as possible on Friday to see where we are with the car. Finishing the race would be a fantastic achievement we will strive for.”

Chandhok’s team mate Bruno Senna managed several practice runs in Bahrain, but retired from the race when a radiator leak stopped his car in its tracks on Lap 18. With a win on the Albert Park track already under his belt, albeit in Formula Three, Senna is hopeful HRT can enjoy a better finish this weekend.

“We need to continue building on what we achieved in Bahrain,” said the Brazilian. “We put two cars together and ran successfully in Bahrain. Now we must continue to work as a team. I came early to Australia to acclimatise to the time difference. I love Australia more and more, as I spend more time here! I have already driven on the Melbourne track, back in 2006.

“I did the F3 support race for F1 back then and had a fairly successful weekend. I won! Now, I must work with the team to continue learning about the car. I have enjoyed working long hours with the team so far and I will be giving my all as I really want to progress and guarantee them good results.”

The Australian Grand Prix will take place from March 26-28.

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McLaren finished on the podium in Bahrain after Lewis Hamilton took advantage of Sebastian Vettel’s engine problem to finish third. The car was off the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull in qualifying and was giving away time in the lengthily middle sector of the lap. However, Whitmarsh thinks his team’s performance last weekend was deceptive and said he is heading to Melbourne full of confidence.

“Coming just a fortnight after the opening race in Bahrain, there’s been only minimal time to add developments to the MP4-25,” he said. “But we’ve got a number of smaller components that we expect to add to the car ahead of the race. We’ve had the chance to reflect upon it, and I believe that our start to the season has been mostly encouraging. Our race pace in Bahrain looked respectable – we had the fastest car for much of the second half of the race – and I think we now have a clearer idea of how to set the car up over a grand prix weekend. Of course, we’re under no illusions that the opposition will be tough – and we expect a fantastic battle in Melbourne this weekend.”

Jenson Button finished seventh in Bahrain and struggled with the car through the new tight and twisty section added for this year’s race. He is confident that the McLaren will be better suited to Melbourne where he expects to be more competitive.

“I think we head to the Albert Park circuit feeling more confident of our overall pace,” he said. “It’s quite a contrast to Bahrain: no tight, low-speed sections and plenty of faster corners. We think the track configuration should suit our package. We learnt some very useful lessons about MP4-25 in the opening race, and the whole team is keen to put them into practice this weekend.”
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Stefanovic, whose team was refused a place on the grid by the FIA even though he claimed it was ready to replace US F1, is reported to be in talks with US F1 to buy it out and in so doing in effect gain entry that way. He hopes that once the takeover is completed, the FIA will allow him to begin racing immediately.

However, the FIA’s stance appears to be that US F1’s entry was cancelled when it failed to make the grid in Bahrain, and as a result even were Stefanovic to purchase the remains of the company that would not guarantee anything.

What is more, the FIA has said it is looking at imposing financial penalties on US F1 for its failure to be ready for the new season. With the company seemingly all but defunct, any penalties would be fairly pointless, but were Stefanovic to buy the team then, in theory, the FIA could impose the punishments on him, as the new owner, and yet still not allow him onto the grid.

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As a result of FIA inspections and the meeting, a note has been sent out clarifying the exact dimensions allowed. This will mean the four teams will have to make changes before practice in Melbourne next Friday.

Coulthard’s mission say Red Bull is to show the public what modern F1 machines are made of and the Scot is expected to reach up to 190mph as he displays his car’s speed, power and control on Belfast’s roads.

Prior to the Scot’s demo run, Red Bull will be setting up their team garage at the gates to City Hall and from 12pm to 4pm fans will be able to visit and find out exactly what goes on behind the scenes in the Formula One paddock.

Coulthard’s evening display will get underway at 8pm, with the site open from 7.30pm.

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