Friday: Kubica fared better than Heidfeld at BMW
The difference between the two drivers from the same team can be striking. This is the case with BMW where Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld do not have the same records tonight after the first Belgian GP trials. So is it a difference in driving skills or in the cars? The rain fell, but it […]
The difference between the two drivers from the same team can be striking. This is the case with BMW where Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld do not have the same records tonight after the first Belgian GP trials. So is it a difference in driving skills or in the cars? The rain fell, but it disrupted both drivers, and Kubica is in 9th with a time that was achieved on a dry track.
Delays have been observed in the programs on one side or the other. And the difference in performance was likely due to the tires. By finishing in the top 10, Robert Kubica did not make any particular comments regarding the two types of compounds, Softs and Mediums. However, Nick Heidfeld, who finished beyond the top 10, had better sensations on the harder tires. The cars, therefore, currently have different setups. We’ll see tomorrow…
Robert Kubica – 9th and 8th:
The conditions were quite variable. We started the first practice session with dry tires, but it began to rain very quickly, and indeed, we couldn’t complete a timed lap with dry tires at the start of the session. We took advantage of the weather conditions to do a few laps with full wet tires just to see how the car behaved in rainy conditions. We worked much more in the second free practice session to catch up and, in addition to that, we evaluated the tires and worked on the setup. It was quite difficult because we had several things to do in a very tight schedule. We even conducted multiple assessments at the same time. We also have some new elements on the car.
Nick Heidfeld – 14th and 16th:
« It was very good. During the first session, the rain disrupted our program. In the afternoon, we made the usual tire comparisons, with a somewhat surprising result given that I found the hardest compound better than the other one. »
Willy Rampf – Head of Engineering:
« During the afternoon, we focused mainly on comparing the tires, after a difficult morning collecting relevant information on the dry tires in the morning. We still have a lot of work to do on the car setup, as it is particularly important for the drivers to feel confident on this demanding track. The second sector, with its fast corners, is the most important, and that is where we need to focus. Once again, the field is very close with 18 cars classified within one second. »
