BMW shows good pace in FP1...but don't be fooled by it...yet

By BMW Sauber F1
April 24 2009

In the first practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the BMW Sauber F1 Team enjoyed a promising start to the weekend. Nick Heidfeld clocked a personal best time of 1:33.907 minutes, finishing second on the time sheets, while Robert Kubica followed just 31-thousandths of a second behind his team-mate in third.

"Obviously you must not overrate the lap times recorded in free practice one," said BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen following the 90-minute session. "We were the sole team to go out on the softer tyre compound, but what we have learnt already is that the grip level is okay, even if sand is blown over from the desert."

Both BMW Sauber F1.09s were equipped with the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, KERS, and were running identical programmes this morning. Following an installation lap, each driver went out for one longer stint and another clearly shorter outing on the medium tyre compound. In the closing stages of the session, Nick and Robert both changed to the super soft Bridgestone tyres and clearly improved their lap times.

Nick set his personal best time on the 15th of his 17 laps, finishing just 0.260 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), the fastest man of the session. The Pole also completed a total of 17 laps to finish third, thus rounding off the strong performance.

In the second free practice session, starting sat 14:00hrs local time (12:00hrs BST), the BMW Sauber F1 Team will continue its preparations for Saturday's qualifying session and the race on Sunday.