Friday Report – Disappointing First Day for BMW

The BMW Sauber team had a disappointing Friday at the start of the Chinese weekend. Robert Kubica was 6th and 14th and was not very satisfied with the setup of his car.

Nick Heidfeld, who finished only 10th and 15th, completed 29 laps in two sessions on the Shanghai International Circuit. In his F1.07, the gearbox had to be changed twice.

BMW-Sauber must therefore redouble their efforts ahead of Saturday, which promises to be crucial with the afternoon qualifications.

Robert Kubica – 6th and 14th

“My day was slightly better than Nick’s because I had few problems. However, we must work very hard on the overall balance of the car because we are a bit disappointed with how the car is behaving.”

“At least in the second session in terms of speed, it exceeded my expectations compared to the first session which was a notch below.”

Nick Heidfeld – 10th and 15th

“Naturally I am disappointed because I wasn’t able to do much driving today. In both sessions, I had a hydraulic leak which means a gearbox change.”

“The mechanics were good, but the track conditions were also changing, making any comparisons impossible.”

Willy Rampf – Technical Director

“Today we focused on the race setup. We had to run our program with only one car because Nick’s gearbox had to be changed twice due to hydraulic issues.”

“It is for this reason that the mechanics were in high demand. Now we need to check the data and obtain the best possible installation because we have not been able to achieve this yet.”