05/05/2006
NEWS STORY
Although both first day practice sessions for the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring were flawless for the BMW Sauber F1 Team, the drivers were not happy with the balance of their cars.
Robert Kubica: They were good sessions and we concentrated mainly on longer distance runs to see how the tyres would perform in the race, as we struggled a lot in Imola. We wanted to see which are the best tyres. The choice was not easy, but we did lots of laps and have lots of data. We were not really looking for the lap times, but regards the pace I think we are consistent. It could be better, but we are not looking that bad compared to the other third drivers. We have to improve quite a lot of things.
Nick Heidfeld: Although we had no technical issues, I was not happy with the balance of my car. The rear was very nervous. However, we have practiced today, we now have the information and the data, and for tomorrow we have to improve the car.
Jacques Villeneuve: I am not that sure how things really are because on the last run there was a lot of traffic and I did not do a proper lap. The car is sliding a lot so we need to work hard on the set-up. Actually it was not too bad. It is nothing to worry about yet, but for now the cars are not that competitive.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Robert completed the programme we had scheduled for him, and his times were fine. Neither Nick nor Jacques were satisfied with the set-up of their cars. We now have to compare the data collected from all three cars before tomorrow’s practice and qualifying, and make any changes that are necessary.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis): We are not satisfied with our performance today, and on top of that we only managed to complete parts of our race preparation. The balance of the cars is not right yet, so we still have a lot of work to do. Tomorrow we have to concentrate on set-up work and tyre evaluation.