Comments from BMW WilliamsF1 Team Members


By Andrew Hooper
May 10 2002

 
 
Austrian GP Friday - Team Comments
 
The BMW WilliamsF1 team drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya had a trouble free and productive first day of practice at the A1-Ring in Spielberg (Austria). Juan Pablo was 3rd and Ralf was 12th.
 
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya"We did quite a good job today and the car definitely improved throughout the two sessions. We have been working on the set-up of the car and tyre evaluation. I think this is going to be a tough weekend but we hope to be closer to Ferrari here."
 
Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher"Today’s first session was not too bad. We tried a few balance variations and we obviously compared the two different tyre compounds, even though we are not sure yet about which we are going to use. There are still some small problems with the set-up of the car to be sorted out. If we manage to do that, tomorrow we should be in a position to fight for the first two rows on the grid.."
 
Dr Mario Theissen BMW Motorsports Director
Mario Theissen"Both the drivers have thoroughly completed their set-up programme, achieving 45 and 46 laps. The A1 circuit is a very demanding circuit on the engine with many sections of the track at full throttle and uphill straights. If the weather is going to be on ou r side we could be in good shape for qualifying and for the race."
 
Sam Michael Chief Operations EngineerWilliamsF1
Sam Michael"We have had a normal Friday practice, doing some homework for the race and evaluating the two different tyres from Michelin. In terms of reliability it was a trouble free day. But in terms of balance we have some work to do to get ready for qualifying. On Ralf’s comparison run he had a software problem and lost the car on the exit of turn two, which hurt his best lap time."
 
 
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