BMW Sauber F1 Team - San Marino GP - Practice

Weather: sunny and dry, 22-25°C Air, 27-31°C Track

Imola (ITA). The three BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers had two trouble-free practice
sessions at the Imola track which sees the start of the European part of the F1
season with the sun shining. Test and reserve driver Robert Kubica was third
quickest in both sessions.

Robert Kubica:
1st Practice: 3rd, 1:25.942s / 2nd Practice: 3rd, 1:25.421s
This is my first ever Formula One practice in Europe. I already knew Imola, but
they have changed the chicane and re-asphalted some corners. Where the grip
level was poor the car was very unstable. We have worked to choose the best
tyres, mainly concentrating on doing long runs to see the degradation, and I
think we have done two really good sessions. I think it was a good Friday and I
think the team will be happy with my driving and our job with the guys.

Nick Heidfeld:
1st Practice: No time / 2nd Practice: 10th, 1:26.387s
I only did a few laps to get familiar with the track. The Variante Alta chicane
has changed, and some parts have new tarmac where the surface of the track is
very slippery. I also had to deal with a nervous car. Physically I don't feel
very well today, something with my stomach doesn't seem right.

Jacques Villeneuve:
1st Practice: No time / 2nd Practice: 15th, 1:26.797s
The track is very slippery, but it is not looking too bad. I think we can work
on the car and be competitive. The major problem is we are lacking grip at the
moment. They have changed just one chicane and the asphalt in a few places, but
that is the same for everyone. At the end of the day the story for me is we are
just low on grip.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
It was a good practice day. Robert had a very heavy workload, especially as he
was comparing the different tyre compounds over long runs. With this data we
have a solid basis to decide on the tyres and the set-up for both racing cars.
Nick and Jacques carried out their planned programmes as well. We were able to
complete all of this with no technical problems.

Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis):
We are happy with the first day. We have new aerodynamic parts for the cars and
were able to collect a lot of data from these. We are now going to concentrate
on fine tuning the set-up of the cars for the race.

Current footage available at www.thenewsmarket.com.
Current images available at www.press.bmw.com.

PR: Jörg Kottmeier +49 170 5666 112, Heike Hientzsch +49 172 6209904, Ann
Bradshaw +44 7713 317006