Friday: the bare minimum for BMW-Sauber

A very thin day for the future ex-Formula 1 team, BMW-Sauber. Knowing the rather optimistic weather forecasts for the rest of the weekend, the German team did not tempt fate on this test day. Only a few laps were done with intermediate and rain tires at most.

The drivers’ times confirm this lack of testing since neither Robert Kubica nor Nick Heidfeld made it into the top 10 and were even outside the top 15 three-quarters of the time. BMW-Sauber is expecting a lot from Saturday, which should be dry.

Robert Kubica – 15th and 10th:

« It’s really good to be back in Suzuka. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were far from ideal as today we couldn’t run at all on a dry track. In the morning, we did a few laps on wet tires and intermediates, just to check the balance of the car. The weather conditions in the afternoon were even worse than in the morning, as there was really a lot of water on the track. The preparation for tomorrow will be a bit of a guessing game but the weather forecast predicts dry conditions for tomorrow. »

Nick Heidfeld – 16th and 17th:

« Certainly, there wasn’t much to learn today. I am sorry for the many Japanese fans who stayed in the stands despite the bad weather and didn’t see much. »

Willy Rampf – Director of Engineering

« It wasn’t an ordinary Friday. The rain fell all day and forced us to adopt a minimal program. With this, we only had a set-up for wet conditions. More was not possible today. The next two days should remain dry. »