BMW Sauber F1 Team - French Grand Prix - Preview
After two races in the urban surrounds of North American
metropolises, Formula One is rediscovering its taste for the
countryside as the season reaches its halfway point. The drivers
will line up in Magny-Cours on 1st July, before locking horns
again at Silverstone a week later.
As the last two races have shown, even the most impressive
formbook means little if you don't get both cars across the
finish line. A crash and a retirement saw the BMW Sauber F1
Team leave North America feeling decidedly short-changed.
As for the team's aims for the French GP, continuing the competitiveness
it has shown over the season so far and finishing the race
with both cars in the points would do nicely. A pre-race medical
examination will determine whether Robert Kubica returns to
the cockpit at Magny-Cours.
Nick Heidfeld:
"The Magny-Cours circuit has a lot to offer - two tricky
chicanes, a high-speed section and some slow corners. I'm
looking forward to the race weekend. The track is demanding,
I like the countryside around the circuit and you tend to
eat very well in France. There's not a lot going on in Magny-Cours
and it gets its fair share of criticism as a result. But I
like a bit of peace and quiet now and again. And I think the
relative tranquillity will do the team good after the eventful
time we've had recently. Although we only picked up a single
point in the USA, it's clear that we are still making progress.
In terms of pure performance, our car was the second-best
in Indianapolis. I could have qualified third and also finished
third in the race."
Robert Kubica:
"I can't wait to get back into the car. I may not have
been given the green light to compete in the USA, but I hope
the medical examination at Magny-Cours will be a formality.
The reason why I wasn't allowed to drive at Indianapolis had
nothing to do with how I felt; the problem was the risk involved
in suffering a second accident within such a short space of
time. That's also why I wasn't allowed to test. I've used
the time to focus intensively on preparing for the next race.
"I'm pretty neutral about the Magny-Cours track. It
isn't one of my favourite circuits, but at the same time I
don't have a problem with it. Magny-Cours is a lot more fun
in a Formula One car than with the smaller cars I've driven
there before in other categories of racing. You can particularly
see the potential of the F1 car through the chicanes."
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director:
"After the grand prix double-header in the big cities
across the Atlantic, the slightly remote rural idyll of Magny-Cours
represents a welcome contrast. You are free to focus on the
sport and the demanding race track. We were up against it
a bit here last season, but managed to escape with a point
despite starting from 11th and 16th on the grid. The team
has come to expect good grid positions in the top ten nowadays
- also Sebastian Vettel met that standard in his first ever
F1 qualifying at Indianapolis. Like Robert himself, the team
is also hoping that he will be back in the car in France.
The race doctors at Magny-Cours will have the final say on
that one though.
"We have finished in the points in every race so far
this season, but in the last two GPs we only managed to get
one car to the finish on each occasion. Nick would have been
set for a third-place finish in the USA and his retirement
was a real pain. We are looking to pick up points with both
cars at Magny-Cours and in so doing strengthen our third place
in the World Championship.
"You have to bargain for high temperatures again in
France. We will be running with the same engines as at Indianapolis.
That includes Nick's car, even though the regulations would
have allowed us to change the engine this time around. However,
it is still in good shape, so we don't need to replace it.
We have yet to make an unscheduled engine change in 2007.
"After the French Grand Prix, we have to pack up and
head for England. Another two GPs in eight days is hard going,
and many members of the team will not make it home at all
between the races. There's a lot of time pressure when it
comes to setting up and packing away all the kit, as well
as on our preparations for the races themselves."
Willy Rampf, Technical Director:
"The two grands prix in North America saw the cars run
with medium downforce, but now we're heading into a series
of races where high downforce will be the order of the day.
Magny-Cours offers an interesting mixture of slow and fast
corners. One feature worth mentioning is the track surface,
which is very sensitive to fluctuations in temperature. The
right set-up in the morning might not necessarily be any good
in the afternoon. This is something you have to remember when
you're making changes to the car.
"Otherwise, the final combination of corners presents
the drivers with a real challenge, as they have to be extremely
aggressive over the high kerbs to record a good lap time.
And so you have to set the car up with this in mind. Optimum
grip is also extremely important through this section of the
track. The rear tyres take a lot of punishment at Magny-Cours,
which is a factor in deciding the right race strategy."
History and background:
Magny-Cours is situated in western Burgundy about halfway
between Paris and Lyons. The nearby town of Nevers has a small
airport used by many of the teams arriving on charter flights
or in private aircraft.
1959 saw the start of construction work on the race track
here. It opened in 1961 and it had its first redesign ten
years later. Formula One has been coming to Magny-Cours for
the French Grand Prix since 1991. F1's move from Le Castellet
to Magny-Cours was promoted by the French government as a
way of bolstering the region's underdeveloped economy.
2007 sees the 57th French Grand Prix staged since the official
launch of Formula One. It will be hosted in Magny-Cours for
the 17th time. The first French GP took place in Reims in
1950. Formula One has been held at the Paul Ricard track 14
times, in Reims 11 times, five times each in Dijon and Rouen,
four times in Clermont-Ferrand and once in Le Mans.
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