Heidfeld identifies areas for improvement on Day 2

By BMW Sauber F1
February 18 2009

On Wednesday, Nick Heidfeld continued the second, four-day BMW Sauber F1 Team test programme within a fortnight. In decent weather conditions the German completed 82 laps of the 5.412-kilometre "Bahrain International Circuit."

Weather conditions: sunny and fairly windy all day Air temperature: 19 - 22 °C, track temperature: 20 - 29 °C

Number of drivers participating: 3 from 3 teams

Fastest lap overall: Timo Glock (Toyota) 1:32.492 min Circuit length: 5.412 km

Nick Heidfeld Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.09-02 / BMW 86/9 Test kilometres today: 444 (82 laps) Fastest lap: 1:32.993 min

Programme: Today's testing schedule comprised basic development work with the BMW Sauber F1.09. Nick Heidfeld tried different set-up solutions, did a couple of practice starts and evaluated tyre options. Whereas in the morning everything went according to plan, in the afternoon the car stopped twice on the track due to mechanical problems.

"Obviously that cost us some track time," Heidfeld said. "But despite this I managed to run for 444 kilometres and we made good progress with the development of the car. We are still learning the car and have already identified a few areas where we can make improvements."

What comes next: Tomorrow will see the last of a total of eight test days on Bahrain's Sakhir circuit. Nick Heidfeld will again be at the wheel of the BMW Sauber F1.09.