BMW Sauber F1 Team - U.S. GP - Practice
Weather: Dry, sunshine turning to clouds, 28-31°C air,
40-47°C track
Indianapolis (USA). The BMW Sauber F1 Team made a good start
to its US Grand Prix weekend with all the drivers feeling
confident the car can be competitive on the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway. Robert Kubica was second quickest in the final session,
while Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve were 13th and 16th
respectively.
Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.06-03BMW P86
1st Practice: 3rd , 1:13.008s / 2nd Practice: 2nd, 1:12.809s
This morning we had some problems with the set up but this
afternoon it was much better. I have done three long runs
with the main goal to see how the tyres would perform and
what the degradation would be. We have a good pace, some things
to resolve still but it was much better than this morning.
Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.06-04/BMW P86
1st Practice: No time / 2nd Practice: 13th, 1:13.725s
In the first session I didn’t do a timed lap, and for
the afternoon we made a change to the car. Unfortunately the
positive result was not shown in the lap times because I was
stuck in traffic on my second outing. I tried to find a clear
lap by dropping back, but even this didn’t work.
Jacques Villeneuve:
BMW Sauber F1.06-02/BMW P86
1st Practice: No time / 2nd Practice: 16th, 1:13.857s
The car is competitive but the track is a little bit slippery.
We need to work on the set up a little bit, but I think we
should be all right for the rest of the weekend.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
It was a successful first practice day without technical problems.
What Robert discovered for the set-up in the first session
was transferred to the other cars for the second session.
Jacques and Nick continued this set-up work in the second
free practice, while Robert concentrated on tyre evaluation
over long runs. The only unknown quantity for the weekend
remains the weather. For Saturday thunder and lightning is
predicted, but we do not have a lot of experience of these
conditions on this track or our tyres.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis):
As usual Robert was concentrating on tyre evaluation. The
long runs brought us very good results, which makes our decision
easy. Jacques and Nick have been working on set up, which
here at Indianapolis is always a special challenge. The infield
is pretty much like Monaco, while the long straight reminds
us of Monza. We will have to find a compromise to decide on
a set up that is okay for both these characteristics.
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