BMW Sauber F1 Team - Monaco GP - Race

Weather: dry, 24°C air, 27°C track

Monaco. Despite a disappointing qualifying, the BMW Sauber F1 Team still
managed to collect two more championship points at the Monaco Grand Prix when
Nick Heidfeld finished seventh. Jacques Villeneuve finished the race but was
out of the points.

Nick Heidfeld: 7th
BMW Sauber F1.06-02/BMW P86
Fastest Lap: 1:17.319 min on lap 72 (11th fastest overall)
I am extremely happy with today. Before the race not everyone was optimistic,
but you should never give up. It could have turned out completely differently,
but we were lucky with the circumstances and also made the most of what we had.
At the start I gained four positions, but then I slowed as I thought I had
damaged the car. It turned out I just used the tyres too hard, especially the
rears. I pitted earlier than planned and after the safety car I just looked
after the rear tyres. I was not sure about getting points here, but in Monaco
the most important thing is not to make mistakes and that way you can get the
car to the finish.

Jacques Villeneuve: 14th
BMW Sauber F1.06-03/BMW P86
Fastest Lap: 1:17.767 min on lap 74 (18th fastest overall)
The start itself was not very good as my clutch was slipping, but the first
corner went well and I caught Jenson Button. Then I tried to save the brakes a
bit. Half way through the race I had to let the leaders by and David Coulthard
also overtook me. This made me drive off the racing line, I got dirt on my
tyres and they were gone so we decided to make an early pit stop. Unfortunately
this didn't work very well because shortly after that the safety car came out.
After all that I got a drive through penalty so it was not a good day for me.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
If you start on the streets of Monaco 14th and 15th on the grid and still
collect two points you can't complain. Of course we benefited from retirements
in front of us, but Nick deserved his two points. His start was excellent and
his race performance good. Jacques didn't get the chance to be so far up the
field and then was delayed by a drive through penalty.

Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis):
For us it was a very difficult race. We started with very heavy cars and soon
noticed the lap times dropping. Because of this we decided to call our cars in
early and change the original strategy. Thanks to Nick's consistent performance
after his stop we have two points. Considering our grid positions, our race
result is good.

Test in Barcelona: 31.05. - Villeneuve/Kubica, 01.06. - Heidfeld/Villeneuve,
02.06. - Heidfeld.Kubica

Footage available at www.thenewsmarket.com, Images available at
www.press.bmwgroup.com