Practice debut trouble free for BMW Sauber

By bmw sauber F1
March 27 2009

The 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship is underway. On Friday, the BMW Sauber F1 Team contested the first practice session for the 2009 Australian GP at Melbourne's "Albert Park Circuit". Nick Heidfeld finished 11th, while Robert Kubica ended the session 13th.

The first serious clash of the Formula One teams in 2009 has been eagerly awaited. Due to the massive rule changes and technical innovations such as KERS, making predictions regarding the outcome of this year's Australian GP, far less the World Championship, is proving to be far more difficult than has been the case in the recent years.

"It's great to be back racing," said Robert. "It is a new season and like I said it is always good after a six month break to start again. Testing is important but what we really love is contesting races." Nick was equally happy to be back in action, saying: "The winter went well for us. Now it's time for racing again."

The BMW Sauber F1 Team showed solid form in the first session of the new season. Nick contested a total of three stints on the 5.303-kilometre track and completed 20 laps. On his 19th, the 31-year-old set a personal best lap time of 1:28.137 minutes to finish 11th. It was the first time that Nick has contested an official Formula One practice session with the new Kinetic Energy Recovery System, KERS.

In the 90-minute session, his team-mate Robert completed a total of three runs comprising 22 laps. With his personal best time of 1:28.511 minutes, the Pole secured 13th. The fastest driver of the session was Williams' Nico Rosberg who topped the timesheets after crossing the finish line in 1:26.687 minutes.

In the second free practice session, starting at 16:30hrs local time (05:30hrs GMT), the BMW Sauber F1 Team will continue its preparations for the first showdown of the 2009 season.