BMW Sauber F1 Team - Monaco Grand Prix - Practice
Weather: Sunny and dry, 24-31°C Air, 40-54°C Track
The BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers were the busiest of all in
the first two practice sessions for the Monaco Grand Prix
as between them Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld covered 150
laps. The focus was on the tyre choice for the most prestigious
F1 race on the calendar.
Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.07-07/BMW P86/7
1st Practice: 9, 1.18.446 min/2nd Practice: 7, 1.16.848 min
"It was quite a good day as we did a lot of testing.
We concentrated mainly on the long runs to how the tyres were
behaving, because this morning we had quite a lot of graining.
We changed the set-up of the car to improve it and, in fact,
in the afternoon we put the new set of tyres on early just
to run them in the end on long runs. We have to work a bit
on the set-up and chose the best compromise. Now we are waiting
for Saturday for the weather as some forecast predict rain.
"
Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.07-05/BMW P86/7
1st Practice: 3, 1.17,616 min/2nd Practice: 14, 1.17.486 min
"My lap times don't look good, but it isn't that bad.
I had problems with the fuel pressure and, of course, when
the engine cuts out it costs time. Apart from this both sessions
went well, and in the morning the track had a surprisingly
high amount of grip. Today we have tested both tyre compounds
properly. For the race it is not only important to get a good
grid position, especially because overtaking is so difficult,
but also the right strategy is extremely important. Another
factor for the strategy is the new safety car rule. There
is a higher probability of the safety car coming out here
than elsewhere."
Willy Rampf (Technical Director):
"Overall we are very pleased with the day. This relates
to the set-up of the cars as well as the race preparation.
Monaco is always a special challenge. Not only is its layout
unique, but it has also a special surface that changes a lot
during the sessions and makes it difficult to find the right
direction for setting up the cars. Nick's car suffered a fuel
pressure problem which affected his lap times, but we will
solve it before tomorrow. For me it's positive to see the
parts which we developed specifically for this race obviously
work well."
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