French GP: BMW Sauber Friday practice notes

In the burning heat of Magny Cours Robert Kubica once again set the best time of the day for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve also had a problem free first day of practice for the French Grand Prix in the aerodynamically modified BMW Sauber F1.06.

Robert Kubica:

"It was not so bad. We have done a lot of tyre testing because the track is very green and there is no grip, so the tyres are suffering a lot. We did long runs, it was quite hot, and now we have to see how our tyre choice will work tomorrow. Anyway everything is under control and the new aero features on the car seem to work well."

Nick Heidfeld:

"I love to drive here in Magny Cours. The track is a lot of fun. I especially like the fast chicanes, although the car is not perfectly balanced yet, but we will continue to improve the set up. It is the first time I have driven the car with the new nose wings, and I agree with my team-mates that they do not interfere with my line of vision."

Jacques Villeneuve:

"The track is very green, so it is a little bit hard on the tyres. I didn’t do a lot of running so am not really sure yet where we stand. The car seems to be quite stable to drive and now we just need to go faster. The car was okay on new tyres, but a little bit slow on old ones and we just need to find out what the other people were doing on old tyres."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"The first practice day was without any problems. Robert completed 64 laps and, as usual, did the biggest part of the work for set up and tyre choice. Now we will evaluate all the data we have collected from this."

Willy Rampf (Technical Director):

"We tested these vertical nose wings at our Jerez test. The combination of these and the new side wings on the engine cover have improved the air stream to the rear of the car and, therefore, increased downforce. As well as this they improve stability in the corners and under braking. Robert’s results are very helpful in terms of the tyre decision, which will be a key factor for our race strategy."

Robert Kubica
Chassis: BMW Sauber F1.06-03
Engine: BMW P86
1st Practice: 1st, 1:16.794
2nd Practice: 1st, 1:16.902

Nick Heidfeld
Chassis: BMW Sauber F1.06-02
Engine: BMW P86
1st Practice: No time
2nd Practice: 14th, 1:19.108

Jacques Villeneuve
Chassis: BMW Sauber F1.06-05
Engine: BMW P86
1st Practice: 8th, 1:19.063
2nd Practice: 26th, 1:20.154

-bmwsauber-