BMW Sauber Expects Good Showing At Canadian and US Grands Prix

Topics:  BMW-Sauber

Anthony Fontanelle
June 6, 2007

The Canadian Grand Prix is the sixth race of the season and the race will be held on the tenth of this month. As raceday approaches, Formula One teams are already voicing out their expectations for the race which will be held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada. One of the teams busy with preparation for the said race is the BMW Sauber contingent.

Robert Kubica, the Number 2 driver for the team, is apparently looking forward to the race and is expecting a good performance from their cars at the Canadian Grand Prix and even in the next race which is the United States Grand Prix. “Montreal and Indianapolis are low-downforce tracks,” said the Polish driver.

“Our 2006 car always performed better on such circuits, so I hope the F1-07 has kept this tendency. Certainly, the two test days at Paul Ricard with the Montreal layout have indicated that. Therefore, I predict that in Montreal the gap to the McLarens and Ferraris will be closer than in Monaco. But that is crystal ball reading - so let's wait and see,” he furthermore discloses.

Last year, the BMW Sauber Formula One Team only managed to get a seventh place finish from driver Nick Heidfeld. Heidfeld is still driving for BMW Sauber and has taken three fourth place finishes after the first three races of the current Formula One season. On the fourth race of the season though, Heidfeld’s car’s gearbox malfunctioned, forcing him to retire. Aside from the transmission, other components of the Formula One car like the BMW ignition coil, and other ignition system components did not suffer any malfunction.

To prepare the cars for the Canadian Grand Prix, BMW Sauber announced that Heidfeld and Kubica will be the ones testing their cars. Sebastian Vettel, the team’s test driver, will not be seeing some action when the team prepares their cars for the race. The team will need to prepare well for the race in order to attain a podium finish and that is something that no team other than McLaren and Ferrari has achieved. BMW Sauber is currently on the third spot at the constructor’s championship and will be fending off the challenge being made by Williams, Renault, and Toyota.

During the Monaco Grand Prix, Kubica secured a fifth place finish while Heidfeld finished the race sixth. Meanwhile, Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella finished fourth as Renault continually put pressure on BMW Sauber. In fact, Fisichella commented that the Canadian Grand Prix will show Renault back in its championship form. It can be remembered that the team won the last two Formula One seasons. The current season though saw Fernando Alonso leaving the team to join the leading McLaren Mercedes.

BMW Sauber currently has 30 points to their credit as they trail behind McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari. McLaren leads the constructor’s championship with 76 points while Ferrari has 56 points. Renault, currently fourth, has 16 points on their side.

BMW Sauber will have to contend not only with Renault and the impressive multiple winners this season in Alonso and Massa for Ferrari but also with the rookie Lewis Hamilton. The young driver for McLaren Mercedes is currently being touted as the next superstar of the sport as he takes solo leadership prior to the Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton is currently tied with his teammate Alonso for the leadership in the driver’s championship.

Source:  Amazines.com