1-2 positions in Saturday Practice

By BMW Sauber F1
July 15 2006

Another strong showing by the BMW Sauber F1 Team: In the third free practice session for the French Grand Prix, Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld finished first and second, thus providing the team with its second one-two.

Today's final practice session took place in brilliant sunshine, with temperatures reaching 30 degrees Celsius. However, as a heavy thunderstorm had hit the track on Friday evening and washed the rubber off the track, all the teams chose to contest the major part of the session on used tyres.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team took the same approach. Therefore, Jacques and Nick set only moderate times in their first two stints. In the closing stages however, when nearly everybody went out on fresh sets of tyres to test the car in qualifying conditions, Jacques and Nick once again proved the improved competitiveness of the BMW Sauber F1.06.

With just one minute remaining, Jacques was the first to cross the line and with his 1:17.005-minute lap, the Canadian took the lead. Some 30 seconds later, Nick also completed his flying lap and crossed the line in 1:17.049 minutes to secure second position on the time sheets.

In the three-leg qualifying session, held from 14:00hrs CEST (13:00hrs BST), the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers will give their very best to confirm the strong performance delivered in session three.

Times:

1 J. Villeneuve BMW 1:17.005 13
2 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:17.049 16
3 J. Trulli Toyota 1:17.056 18
4 N. Rosberg Williams 1:17.188 16
5 M. Webber Williams 1:17.358 12
6 J. Button Honda 1:17.476 19
7 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:17.556 12
8 P. de la Rosa McLaren 1:17.653 16
9 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:17.666 18
10 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:17.859 19
11 G. Fisichella Renault 1:17.995 17
12 C. Albers Midland F1 1:18.059 24
13 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:18.199 20
14 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:18.214 5
15 F. Massa Ferrari 1:18.396 8
16 F. Alonso Renault 1:18.447 16
17 T. Monteiro Midland F1 1:18.487 23
18 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:18.545 20
19 C. Klien Red Bull 1:18.631 20
20 R. Barrichello Honda 1:18.961 20
21 F. Montagny Super Aguri 1:19.497 18
22 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:21.497 10