BMW Sauber F1 Team - San Marino GP - Qualifying
Weather: Sunny, dry, 26°C Air, 37°C Track
Imola (ITA). It was a disapppointing qualifying session for
the BMW Sauber F1 Team, as neither Jacques Villeneuve nor
Nick Heidfeld made it into the top ten on the grid for the
San Marino Grand Prix in Imola.
Jacques Villeneuve:
BMW Sauber F1.06-02 / BMW P86
Qualifying: 12th, 1:23.887s (3rd Practice: 8 th, 1:24.916s)
I am very disappointed because less than two tenths of a second
was P5 and I know there was that time in the car. The second
lap was quick, but the yellow flags caught us out. That really
does your race and finishing P5 or P12 in the session means
the difference between finishing on the podium or not. It
is a little bit rough but we are at the wrong end of the tenths
today big time.
Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.06-03 / BMW P86
Qualifying: 17th, 1:24.129s (3rd Practice: 15 th , 1:25.701s)
I really wanted to make it into the top ten and tried everything
I knew, but lost the rear of the car and went into the tyres,
which unfortunately has damaged the car quite badly. All in
all qualifying was disappointing, especially as I felt good
after the results of the three free practice sessions yesterday
and today. With new tyres I just could not get the necessary
grip, but the positive side is I fell well again yesterday
after my stomach problems yesterday.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
It was a very exciting qualifying session with very close
gaps between the drivers’ times, but unfortunately we
had to watch the breathtaking final 20 minutes as spectators.
Jacques missed the top ten by just over a tenth of a second,
whereas Nick never managed to get the lap time we expected.
He complained about lack of grip and on his last lap tried
too hard and lost control of the car. The times are closer
than we have seen before, as between fifth and Jacques’
12th position there is only seventeen hundredths of a second.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis):
Obviously we expected more from qualifying. We knew it would
have been very hard to make the top ten in this close competition.
Now we have to adjust our race strategy accordingly, but we
are confident we can repeat the performance we found in our
long runs on Friday.
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