Williams Barcelona test notes 2005-01-19

Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld were on duty as the BMW WilliamsF1 Team continued its 2005 preparations at the 'Circuit de Catalunya'. It was a chilly 3°C as today's programme got underway. However, as the session progressed, the sun slowly emerged and the temperature gradually climbed to a more accommodating 16°C.

Today, Mark Webber was joined by Nick Heidfeld, who is under consideration for the second BMW WilliamsF1 Team race seat this season. Both drivers concentrated on traction control evaluations, in addition to carrying out a number of simulated race starts.

Unfortunately their track time was limited due to technical problems with the WilliamsF1 BMW FW26C, however the team is confident that it will resolve the problems for tomorrow's final day of testing, when Antonio Pizzonia will join Nick.

Despite the problems, both BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers topped the timesheets, with Mark completing 35 laps on his way to setting the best time of the day, 1:16.631 minutes, while Nick completed 34 laps, with a best time of 1:16.978 minutes.

Tim Newton (Test Team Manager, WilliamsF1):

"Mark and Nick were on duty for the team today and recorded the quickest times of the session this morning. However, a technical problem with the suspension put an early end to the day's schedule. The guys at the factory are currently investigating the problem, as soon as they have rectified the situation we will be back on track."

-williams-