30/07/2006
NEWS STORY
Neither of the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers finished the German Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld retired after ten laps because of rear brake damage following an incident after the start. Jacques Villeneuve's race was over shortly before half distance when he crashed into the barriers.
Nick Heidfeld: My start was only average, but in the second corner I managed to overtake several cars on the outside, and among them was Jacques. Although I braked very late, I got through the corner all right. Then I suddenly felt a hit on the right rear. I had to pit with a right rear puncture and changed all the tyres. But the brakes were also damaged. The pedal became longer and longer, so it was too dangerous to continue. Later I found out Jacques and myself had touched, which was unfortunate.
Jacques Villeneuve: The impact was quite hard. After we changed the nose at the end of the first lap the car was very oversteery and every time I tried to push I was sideways. I just pushed a little too hard and I got caught out there. Just before the accident I was very sideways entering the corner, but when I caught it it just went straight.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): For our team the race was practically over on the first lap. Both drivers were involved in incidents in the first corners. They continued after we changed tyres on Nick's car and a front nose on Jacques' car, but both were in hopeless positions. On Nick's car also parts of the rear suspension had been damaged, which caused brake problems. Jacques never managed good lap times after his stop, and on lap 31 he went off. This marked the end of a totally disappointing weekend. In Budapest we have to try to make up lost ground.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): After the start there was chaos in turn two and both our cars were among those damaged. Jacques pitted at the end of lap one for a new front nose, and just a few seconds later Nick arrived with a damaged right rear tyre. Jacques' car oversteered quite badly after the nose change, and this ultimately led to the accident. The rear of Nick's car was damaged due to the blown tyre and he told us on the radio he had a soft brake pedal. With things getting worse, we decided to retire him as a safety precaution.
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