BMW Sauber F1 Team - Great Britain GP - Preview
8th of 18 World Championship races
Munich/Hinwil, 2nd June 2006. The new BMW Sauber F1 Team
has managed to take away points from five out of seven FIA
Formula One World Championship races so far in 2006. The target
for the forthcoming British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 11th
June is to pick up a few more World Championship points.
To prepare for the race on this highly traditional and challenging
circuit, the team had three days of testing on the Circuit
de Catalunya outside Barcelona. All three drivers spent time
out on the track. Apart from Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica,
Jacques Villeneuve is currently a very busy man: on Monday,
29th May, the BMW Sauber F1 Team driver married his fiancée
Johanna at a civil ceremony in Switzerland surrounded by a
small group of family members and close friends. The marriage
took place in the Chateau d'Aigle and was followed by an evening
meal in Villars, where they will live. The religious ceremony
takes place in the week before the British GP at a church
in Paris, where a party will be given for over 200. The BMW
Sauber F1 Team wishes the couple every happiness!
Immediately after the race at Silverstone, Villeneuve has
another "commitment": on 13th June he will be driving
an F1 race car in London's Hyde Park as part of an event organized
by Official Corporate Partner Intel.
Nick Heidfeld:
"Silverstone is a classic in the racing calendar and
a circuit that all the drivers and teams know very well because
a lot of testing is done there. At the end of April we spent
three days there with the BMW Sauber F1 Team. It's a challenging
track with a couple of fast corners. The Becketts combination,
in particular, is great fun. But you also feel the wind there,
which sometimes blasts in across the flat terrain.
The other thing I like about this grand prix is the well-informed
fans. England has a lot of genuine motor sport enthusiasts.
They aren't so much interested in the personalities as in
the sport itself.
Bad weather is something of a tradition in England. Rain
doesn't bother me; in fact it can add a bit of extra excitement.
Fog, as in Spa, has been known to cause delays to the start
of practice at Silverstone, even if visibility on the track
is okay. No driving is allowed as long as weather conditions
aren't good enough to allow for the potential use of the emergency
helicopter."
Jacques Villeneuve:
"Since Monaco I have been busy. Not only have I done
two days of testing, but I also found time to get married!
This has been a very happy time for me and Johanna. We were
married in front of our close family and friends and it was
very special for both of us. We have also received many great
messages, but now I have to concentrate on the race ahead,
which I am looking forward to as I have won the British Grand
Prix twice at Silverstone. There is always a big crowd, a
great one, and it is a passionate one, so that makes it fun.
It has gone better for us recently in the race than in qualifying
and it is the type of track I like racing on, although I am
not a big fan of qualifying there for some reason. Maybe it
is the way we set the car up. Compared to other tracks, there
are a lot of high-speed corners at Silverstone where we carry
a lot of speed into them without braking. It is difficult
to overtake on and quite a physical race.
At the test we had there we were not extremely competitive,
but the track has some fun corners to drive, even though I
am not that fond of the two chicanes. Turn one can be fun
and this year it will be flat out in qualifying for a few
laps, so that could make it fun."
Robert Kubica:
"Silverstone is nice, I did three days there at our recent
test. There are some really fast corners, and the first sector
is especially quick, with the first corner flat out. The track
is a completely different challenge to Monaco and it will
be good to see how well we perform. I am looking forward to
going there. It was four years ago - in 2002 - that I was
racing there in a Formula Renault.
I think the weather might be a bit cold. We have to make
sure our tyre temperatures are high enough after problems
at the beginning of the season in cold conditions. I am looking
forward to a weekend with good practice sessions on Friday."
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director:
"Our team will be buoyed up for the next grand prix because
the World Championship points we earned in Monaco have shown
us one thing above all: our fledgling team can handle pressure
and unforeseen problems. We were dogged by a problem with
the electronics during practice and qualifying, which affected
set-up work, and that put us some way back on the grid in
qualifying. But thanks to a concerted effort on the part of
the team and drivers, Nick managed to advance from 15th to
7th place in the race. Those two points were hard-fought.
We have now managed to take home points from five out of seven
races. That is also our goal for the race at Silverstone.
The car's aerodynamics, set-up and tyres will be prepared
for Silverstone during testing at Barcelona and at the Hinwil
factory. The circuit also presents a challenge for the engine.
With the V10s the full-throttle percentage was 58 percent,
which was already above average. For the V8 engines, that
has risen even further. Unlike Monaco, engine performance
in Silverstone will again have a major impact on lap times.
Nick will be driving with the same engine he had for the Monaco
GP, while Jacques' BMW Sauber F1.06 is scheduled for a fresh
powerplant.
The Silverstone GP has been the subject of frequent debate,
but it's a classic circuit. For BMW Group, Britain is the
only market with production sites for all three of its brands:
the MINI is built in Oxford, the Rolls-Royce in Goodwood,
and BMW car engines are manufactured in Hams Hall. After the
US and Germany, the UK is the third-biggest market for BMW
Group and posts the highest MINI sales."
Willy Rampf, Technical Director Chassis:
"Despite the restricted infield area, the Silverstone
circuit has a high average speed due to its many medium and
high-speed turns. For the drivers it's a matter of carrying
as much speed as possible into the straights. The circuit
has a fluid sequence of turns, which makes for the lowest
braking energy of the whole season, but at the same time means
it is difficult to overtake.
The car's balance and stability are mainly determined by
aerodynamics, and high efficiency is paramount on this track.
We will have newly developed components on the car to improve
the performance of the F1.06. Tyres will be subject to a lot
of wear due to the track surface, which is why teams will
tend to opt for a relatively hard compound."
After seven of 18 rounds of the World Championship, the BMW
Sauber F1 Team is in fifth place in the constructors' standings
with 14 points.
BMW Sauber F1 Team Pit Lane Park:
Silverstone will see the third appearance of the BMW Sauber
F1 Team Pit Lane Park. This high-tech theme park with Formula
One exhibits, as well as interactive computer animations and
features supplied by Official Corporate Partner Intel, will
be erected behind the Becketts Grandstand.
This time round, the Formula One racer will be manned by
World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx, while Euan Hankey
will be steering a Formula BMW car. On display once again
will be a BMW 320Si WTCC and a BMW Z4 M Coupé.
Admission to the 5,400-square-metre park with its 90-metre
section of track is free to anyone attending the GP. The Pit
Lane Park is open on Friday and Saturday from 8.00am to 6.00pm
and on Sunday from 8.00am to 4.00pm.
Villeneuve to drive a Formula One racer in Hyde Park:
At 10.00am on the Tuesday following the Silverstone GP, Jacques
Villeneuve will drive a Formula One car from the BMW Sauber
F1 Team through London's Hyde Park. This promotional day organised
by Official Corporate Partner Intel will also see World Touring
Car Champion Andy Priaulx take a BMW M6 for a spin along the
closed-off 380-metre stretch of road. Villeneuve and Priaulx
will be available for photos and media questions around 10.30am.
All press wishing to attend this event should contact Intel
UK PR Manager Perveen Akhtar at Perveen.akhtar@intel.com or
IntelLondonGrandPrix@redconsultancy.com, mobile: +44 77 4776
0165 for accreditation. For further information about the
event you can also visit www.intel.co.uk/londongp
History and background:
The Silverstone circuit has undergone a number of modifications
since it hosted its first grand prix in 1950. This year's
GP is the 40th to be held on the Northamptonshire track. Other
British GPs have been held in Aintree (five) and Brands Hatch
(twelve). England has also played host to three European Grands
Prix: at Brands Hatch in 1983 and 1985 and at Donington Park
in 1993.
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