12/03/2010
NEWS STORY
After the first two practice sessions of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, on the modified and lengthened Bahrain International Circuit, neither of the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers was completely happy with the set-up of the C29. Pedro de la Rosa came tenth in the afternoon session, Kamui Kobayashi was eleventh. The new section in the circuit's infield makes the set-up work more challenging.
Pedro de la Rosa: "Well, it was not easy. We managed to make the car feel better during the day, but we definitely need to improve the set-up for tomorrow as much as we can. The overall grip level is very low out there and the new part is really bumpy. One bump especially before turn seven I find dangerous because the cars are bottoming there a lot. The heat is no issue at all. I don't regard this circuit as physically very demanding anyway."
Kamui Kobayashi: "After we lost some track time this morning because of a puncture, we were able to complete our programme in the afternoon. We now have to look at the set-up again. I have the impression the bumpy new infield is pretty difficult for us, but we will work on that. I have no complaints about the heat either, as I definitely prefer it compared to the winter in Europe."
Willy Rampf, Technical Director: "We mainly concentrated on race preparation today, so consequently we were running on a high fuel load for most of the time. We want to be sure to find a set-up which is acceptable for the race distance. We will work on the qualifying set-up tomorrow. It's the first time this year we are running in climate conditions like this, so we still have a lot of work to do. Kamui suffered a puncture, which was caused by a piece of debris, but apart from that the cars ran reliably."