BMW Sauber Practices For United States Grand Prix

Topics:  BMW-Sauber, United States Grand Prix

Anthony Fontanelle
June 19, 2007

The upcoming United States Grand Prix is the seventh race of the season. The race will be held at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In order to prepare for the race, Formula One teams have already conducted practice sessions at the track. BMW Sauber who lost Robert Kubica for the race fielded rookie Sebastian Vettel during the practice session along with Nick Heidfeld.

The German-Swiss team obtained good lap times at both morning and afternoon sessions. Nick Heidfeld, the German Formula One driver, posted the second fastest lap time during the morning practice session. During the afternoon practice session though, he only posted the fifth fastest lap time. While his lap times are respectable, the Formula One driver complains that he is having a problem with his car’s balance.

“After the first session we looked pretty good on the results sheet, but that was only on the sheet I'm afraid. I don't know who ran on which fuel load and used new tires. But in any case this morning I was already unhappy with the balance of the car and there was very little improvement this afternoon. We haven't managed yet to get the tires to work properly. The car is just sliding too much, but we are working on that,” said Heidfeld. BMW Sauber is looking into the suspension setting of the Formula One car including its BMW shocks.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel took the opportunity to learn the track. Sunday’s race will mark the first time that the young German driver will race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The youngster recorded the most laps at 83 among all Formula One drivers who participate at the practice sessions.

During the morning practice session, Vettel recorded the fourth fastest lap time. On the second practice session of the day, his fastest lap only ranked eleventh overall.

“Obviously today it was going quite well,” says Vettel. “We did a lot of mileage and we were able to find out quite a bit about the tires and the set-up of the car. We have just been trying to progress. I think it is a normal Friday. Of course it is a completely new task for me but so far I am quite happy with what I did. I think now is about working together with the team to find the maximum for tomorrow and Sunday.”

“I don't have expectations as today it was important to get used to the car again as the last time I drove it was Friday in Malaysia. The car is not so bad as you could see we were quite quick in Montreal, and here also it doesn't look so bad. I thought the track was quite good with a nice rhythm, and it is quite interesting to drive with the banking. After a couple of times you get quite used to it but it is fun.”

Fernando Alonso of Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes dominated both practice sessions. The Spaniard recorded the fastest lap time both in the morning and afternoon practice session. His teammate, the rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton recorded the third fastest lap in the morning and the second fastest during the afternoon practice session.

The Ferraris are also showing good performance at the track with Felipe Massa posting the third fastest time during the second practice session while teammate Kimi Raikkonen posted the fourth fastest lap time.

Source:  Amazines.com