Monaco GP: BMW Sauber Saturday qualifying notes

Incidents are always expected in the narrow streeets of Monaco but today for qualifying for the seventh round of the World Championship these were few and far between. However, the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers did not make it into the top ten as Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld qualified on the eighth row of the grid.

Jacques Villeneuve:

"It is very disappointing. We were competitive on old tyres and then when we put new tyres on to qualify we just couldn’t use them.  

Nick Heidfeld:

"I don’t know what happened. I went onto the throttle and got no response. I don’t know whether we would have made it into the top ten, but on that last lap the car felt quite good and I had reasonable grip.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"Qualifying didn’t come up to our expectations. The second sector was where both drivers lost most time, so they didn’t get into the top ten where we hoped to be. The reason for Nick stopping on the track is being investigated at the moment, but the situation didn’t have any impact on the result because top ten positions would have been difficult today.

Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis):

"This qualifying result is not what we expected. Although it is always difficult here with the traffic, we hoped to get at least one car in the top ten. In free practice both drivers were happy with the balance, but with new tyres in qualifying Jacques complained about understeer."

"Exactly why Nick stopped we will only know when the car is back and we have analysed the data. In a race in Monaco anything is possible, so all is not lost. We will take advantage of any chances we get in the race. The BMW Sauber F1 Team wishes to extend its condolences to the family of Edouard Michelin and everyone in the company over their tragic loss."

Jacques Villeneuve
Chassis: BMW Sauber F1.06-03
Engine: BMW P86
Qualifying: 15th, 1:15.052

Nick Heidfeld
Chassis: BMW Sauber F1.06-02
Engine: BMW P86
Qualifying: 16th, 1:15.137

-bmwsauber-