BMW Sauber F1 Team - Australian Grand Prix - Free Practice

Weather: dry, 18-19°air, 25-31°C track

Melbourne (AUS). At 12.30 hrs local time in Melbourne, Australia, the 2009 season finally started. For the BMW Sauber F1 Team the two free practice sessions were trouble free and unspectacular. Nick Heidfeld finished 11th and 14th, while Robert Kubica was 13th and 15th.

The team fitted Heidfeld's F1.09 with the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) while Kubica drove without the hybrid system.

Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.09-04 / BMW P86/9
1st Practice: 11th , 1.28.137 min / 2. Practice: 14 th 1.27.398 min
“It was great fun to drive here today. It was high time the season started. We had no technical problems and completed our entire programme – with the usual tyre comparison and long runs. The Albert Park circuit isn’t a permanent race track and, therefore, naturally has a very low grip level at the beginning of the race weekend. It improved a little during the two practice sessions but even in the end it wasn’t good.”

Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.09-03 / BMW P86/9
1st Practice: 13th, 1.28.511 min / 2nd Practice: 15th, 1.27.398 min
“It was the first Friday of the season, but, apart from that, it was the normal work improving the set-up and evaluating the tyres for the race. We collected a lot of data which we have to analyse so we can make more progress. Overall we are lacking grip, and we have to find out why.”

Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering):
“At last the new season has started! We did not have any technical problems today, KERS also worked without any difficulties. We were able to complete our full programme. The focus was the set-up work for the race, but so far we are not satisfied with this. The decisive factor will be to use the tyre performance perfectly for both specifications. We will concentrate on this in the third practice.”