19/01/2006
NEWS STORY
BMW has concluded its first test with the new F1.06, with former World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve, today, getting his first taste of the new car.
As the Canadian familiarised himself with the 2006 car, concentrating on set-up work, teammate, Nick Heidfeld, at the wheel of the Sauber C24B, ran a tyre testing programme for Michelin.
"After a total of 692 kilometres with the BMW Sauber F1.06 in three days we are happy with the results we achieved," said Willy Rampf, the team's technical director (chassis). "The main focus during the roll-out was to check functionality and to concentrate on reliability issues.
"On the whole, we experienced very few minor technical problems, and this allows us for the forthcoming track tests to focus mainly on set-up work, the introduction of test components and the continuation of the Michelin tyre development programme."
"The F1.06 felt really good," added Villeneuve. "After the first day in a new car you can tell if it will be competitive or not; this one felt fast and I think there is more potential in it than in the C24 last year. That's very positive.
"Overall, I think these three days went well. Normally with a new car you expect quite a few problems, but this test went pretty well, so I'm happy."
Weather
Air temperature: 9-22 C
Track temperature: 9-20 C.
Sunny
Today's Times - All Times Unofficial
| Name | Team | T | Laps | Time | Gap |
| Heidfeld | BMW | M | 117 | 1:12.293 | 123.952 mph |
| Villeneuve | BMW | M | 76 | 1:12.472 | 0.179 |
Best Times To Date
| Date | Driver | Team | T | Time | Gap |
| 19-Jan | Heidfeld | BMW | M | 1:12.293 | 123.952 mph |
| 19-Jan | Villeneuve | BMW | M | 1:12.472 | 0.179 |