2003 a huge step forward says Theissen

According to Mario Theissen, the development work on the FW25 has considerably contributed to the success of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team in 2003. The success record for the season 2003 of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team is impressive -- even if the World Championship title had not been secured in the end.

Mario Theissen looks back on the most successful season of BMW since their comeback to Formula 1: "We secured four victories, two of them were one-two wins. In addition, we are once more the most reliable team of the entire Formula 1 with 1,800 race laps completed. And we have been in contention for the Constructors' Championship title until the very last race."

The BMW Motorsport Director thus considers the previous race year quite a success. "Comparing it with the World Championship last year, when Ferrari had scored twice as many points as we did, it really is a huge step forward. We have been challenging Ferrari until the last race. If you consider that and know what is in the pipeline, everyone will understand that frustration over the two last races was digested quickly," Theissen commented.

Theissen's conclusion of the season 2003 is positive: "The race year was far better than we might have expected at the beginning of the season."

Looking back on the race year 2003, Theissen particularly emphasizes one aspect of the team's work: "Following a weak start, we were able to make up ground considerably. And it was done at a tremendous speed -- I've never seen that before. Further development of our car has been enormous, especially from the part of Williams. My compliments to it! There has been good progress in the field of further development of aerodynamics, chassis, and set-up."

"As a result, we had joined the top of the field by the middle of the season with a car of which, at the beginning of the season, many people had though that it would not work out. We then even temporarily took over at the top of the table and by the end of the season we had a car capable of winning at any time."

The upward trend is to be continued in 2004. Preparations for the coming season are already in full swing. Theissen explains the main challenge to it: "At first, we have to create a technical basis since we will encounter new rules which primarily concerns our work as engine manufacturer. Only one engine will be allowed for the entire weekend, which means that the engine has to endure twice as many kilometres than last year."

BMW is keen to meet this challenge. "We started development work on the BMW P84 even earlier than we had initially scheduled in our development plan. The engine had already been on the test rig in July. It was then tested on the track before Monza, so we have already completed car tests. The main task now is to make the engine ready to endure 700 to 800 kilometres. This is the core task for the winter," the BMW Motorsport Director explained

But not only BMW is already focusing their work on the coming season 2004. "Simultaneously, Williams is working on the car for next year. And we will continue to work on the tyre development together with Michelin this winter in order to make sure that we will be competitive from the technical point of view from the very first race. That's our goal," Theissen said, looking ahead to the next season to come.

-bmw-

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