Button gives 'thumbs up' to Bahrain

Button in Bahrain
By Phil Huff (04/11/2003)
November 6 2003

Just a few days after visiting the new Shanghai Grand Prix track in China, Lucky Strike BAR Honda's lead driver Jenson Button gave a 'thumbs-up' to the new Bahrain International Circuit when he visited the exciting new track that will host the Middle East's first ever Grand Prix next April.

During the course of his visit Jenson was the guest of His Excellency Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Bahrain International Circuit and toured the site in a four-wheel-drive jeep rather than his F1 race car.

"Being the first Formula One driver to visit the circuit is a very special experience for me and I am very honoured to have had the chance to see it first hand," he said. "The Arabic hospitality has been first class and I know that we will all be made very welcome next year. I imagined that the circuit was going to be impressive but seeing it up close makes me realise what a magnificent job is being done here in Bahrain.

"There is a massive effort going on at the track in readiness for the Grand Prix," adds our man from Frome. "I know that all the drivers are going to like this track and I am also convinced that everyone in the Formula One world will be overwhelmed by the Arabic culture and the hospitality of the Bahrainis.

"It is very different for me to see a track before it is completed," he says, having just returned from Shanghai’s under construction facility, "but from what I have seen this is going to be an excellent circuit with some really challenging and demanding corners."

The stunning new 5.475km circuit will be ready in time for the race that takes place on 4 April 2004. Located some 20kms south of the capital city of Manama, the track is a feat of engineering and is the first circuit to be built in the desert environment.