Monaco GP: BMW Sauber Thursday practice notes

Although the drivers of the BMW Sauber F1 Team were happy with the balance of the BMW Sauber F1.06, they did not complete their scheduled programme for free practice. This was due to the team trying to trace the source of an electronic failure that caused test and reserve driver Robert Kubica to clip the barrier at Rascasse.

Jacques Villeneuve:

"The car is fairly competitive here, but due to the problem on Robert’s car we had to stop early so we don’t really know where we are yet. We have quite a lot of work to do."

Nick Heidfeld:

"I was quite happy with the balance of the car, but it is unfortunate I was only able to do ten laps. This was a shame as it is very important to do as many laps as possible here in the practice sessions. On the postive side, we were still able to collect some data and also do a few practice starts."

Robert Kubica:

"I am a great fan of street circuits so it was a good experience to drive an F1 car here. From the start I think I was on the pace as regards lap times. Unfortunately we never managed to complete our planned programmes in either practice session. We did some important tyre testing, even though the long runs were interrupted by red flags. But then the electronic problem caused me to crash and the session was over for us."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"Robert’s incident cannot be blamed on driver error, but an electronic failure. This was also why he stopped in the morning practice. Currently we are trying to figure out the reason for the failure and, as a precaution, we kept the cars in the garage. This meant we couldn’t complete our programme, but we still collected enough data to make our tyre choice."

Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis):

"We have done set-up work today based on the data we collected at the Paul Ricard test. The drivers were very happy with the progress despite our problems. In Monaco it is important to have a car with very precise steering because here there is no room for errors. An electronic problem curtailed our programme, but we are confident we already have enough information."

Jacques Villeneuve
Chassis: BMW Sauber F1.06-03
Engine: BMW P86
1st Practice: 17th, 1:19.246
2nd Practice: 20th, 1:17.874

Nick Heidfeld
Chassis: BMW Sauber F1.06-02
Engine: BMW P86
1st Practice: No time
2nd Practice: 22nd, 1:18.257

Robert Kubica
Chassis: BMW Sauber F1.06-05
Engine: BMW P86
1st Practice: 6th, 1:17.869
2nd Practice: 26th, 1:19.273

-bmwsauber-