15/07/2006
NEWS STORY
The BMW Sauber F1 Team had a disappointing qualifying session for the French Grand Prix with Nick Heidfeld 12th and Jacques Villeneuve 18th.
Nick Heidfeld: The balance of the car was quite good. It often happens that we look very good on Saturday morning, but others make bigger improvements for qualifying in the afternoon. Having said that, my personal expectations were not as high as you would expect.
Jacques Villeneuve: This was very disappointing because the car is quick. After this morning we decided to go aggressively with our tyres for qualifying. We took a risk with the choice but I had traffic on both my laps. Starting from the back could really kill our race, but we will still keep working until the end as you never know what happens.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Our qualifying result was influenced by two factors. On the one hand our car here in qualifying was not as strong as in the previous races. Jacques Villeneuve, on the other hand, did not manage to get the lap time he needed for a good position. For the race this means our starting positions are particularly bad as overtaking here is difficult. Nevertheless, for Nick the clear target is to drive into the points. I hope with a good start, as in the recent races, he can lay the foundations for this.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): The biggest disappointment is we didn't get into the second part of qualifying with Jacques. Nick had some traffic on his last lap, which probably cost the time needed to be in the top ten. Because another driver has to drop back ten places, Nick will start from 11th on the grid. Thanks to our ability to get away from the start we hope to make up positions at the beginning and collect some points.
To check out our Magny Cours Qualifying gallery, click here