Malaysia Friday Reactions: Kubica' gearbox 'saved'
By BMW Sauber F1 Team
March 21 2008
The BMW Sauber F1 Team overall had a positive start to the weekend of the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix in the humid heat of Sepang. Robert Kubica was eighth fastest in both free practice sessions on Friday, although he lost some track time in the morning due to a gear box change. As planned, Nick Heidfeld was 11th and 13th. Reactions to Friday's free practice sessions...
Robert Kubica: "After I had lost quite some time in the morning session
due to a gearbox problem, we mainly concentrated on evaluating
different downforce configurations and comparing the tyres in the
afternoon. We now have a lot of data available, which we have to
analyse and understand in order to make the right decisions for the
rest of the weekend. We haven't had much time yet to work on the set-up
of the car, so there is more to come."
Nick Heidfeld: "I'm quite happy with the Friday sessions. The car's
balance here is initially better than it was on Friday in Melbourne,
although it is not really good yet. I hope we manage to find a couple
of set-up improvements for Saturday, just like we did in Australia.
Although the track has been resurfaced, it has a quite good grip level
which is not always the case. A big question mark is the weather.
Precise predictions for rain are difficult here. I don't have anything
against normal rain, the opposite is the case. But even I don't wish
for a tropical downpour here for the race. If this happens you just
don't see anything and have too much aquaplaning."
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): "We concentrated on the race
preparation today and collected a lot of data concerning the tyres. We
also tested different aerodynamic configurations. Now we will analyse
the data. On Robert's car we measured a gearbox pressure that was too
high. There was a risk of damaging the cooling system, therefore we
decided to change the rear end to enable Robert to continue the
session. Compliments to the mechanics, who did a great job. We had a
dry first day of practice, but we expect some rain for the remainder of
the weekend."