BMW Sauber F1 Team - 09 Belgian Grand Prix

BMW Sauber F1 Team - Belgian Grand Prix - Preview

28th – 30th August 2009
12th of 17 World Championship races


Preview.

Munich/Hinwil, 23rd August 2009. Formula One swaps Mediterranean glamour for the rugged countryside of the Ardennes as the teams line up for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps – just seven days after the European Grand Prix in Valencia. This “natural” circuit is one of the most challenging on the F1 calendar.

Robert Kubica:
“We are heading to the final stage of the season which offers a lot of nice tracks, beginning with Spa-Francorchamps. It is a race track with a great history. Most of the drivers like driving here. The circuit is very long with a lot of challenging high-speed corners. Finding the right balance is one crucial factor in Spa, which is quite difficult. The weather is always unpredictable and mostly changeable. It might be dry on some parts of the track and it might rain heavily on others. Driving in Spa is challenging and it is always exciting to come here.”

Nick Heidfeld:
“Spa is a sensational race track. The 2008 race was one of my best ever. I was running in the points and decided shortly before the end of the race to switch onto wet-weather tyres. It turned out to be a spot-on decision and put me eventually into second. Sudden changes in the weather can have a decisive effect on this grand prix. Even if it’s hot all over Europe, there might still be torrential rain at Spa. Plus, Spa is only an hour or so from Mönchengladbach by car, so this race always gives me the chance to make a quick visit back to my old home town.”

Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director:
“Spa – only three letters, but a place with so much motor racing history. Spa is an essential date on the F1 calendar. We love coming to this small, sleepy Belgian town. Spa is a fantastic natural race circuit tucked away in the beautiful, rugged Ardennes. Recent modifications have meant Eau Rouge is now taken flat out in the dry, creating the longest full-throttle section of the season. As this part of the track also rises significantly, engine output and durability are really put to the test. The second defining feature of Spa is the unpredictable weather. It changes very quickly; rain can suddenly set in, but sometimes only over one section of the track. We are aiming to record another good result in the penultimate race of the European season.”

Willy Rampf, Head of Engineering:
“Spa is the longest circuit on the F1 calendar and the race is therefore run over the least number of laps. This significantly restricts the teams’ room for manoeuvre in terms of race strategy, because staying out one lap more or less makes a big difference to the amount of fuel a driver has on board.

“As far as the track characteristics are concerned, Spa is the first circuit this season where we will be running medium downforce with the 2009 cars. Up to now, we have sent the cars out with high downforce for every GP. The difference is considerable and means we will use special wings at Spa. The track layout has a real excitement factor, which goes beyond the renowned Eau Rouge. The spectrum of cornering speeds is huge; the corners range from the extremely tight Bus Stop chicane to the high-speed Blanchimont.

“We can usually expect relatively low ambient temperatures at Spa, so getting heat into the tyres is sure to be an issue. Spa is traditionally the only race where you also prepare a rain set-up for every session. That makes this weekend an extremely exacting one for the engineers because, in addition to adapting the car to the particular characteristics of the circuit, you also have to factor in the weather.”


History and background:
The cross-country character of the Spa circuit can be traced back to its earliest days. The idea of linking up the towns of Malmedy, Stavelot and Francorchamps for the purposes of racing dates back to 1920. The first car race in the region around the health resort of Spa was scheduled for 1921 but had to be cancelled as there was just one entrant. Instead, motorcycles gave the circuit its curtain-raising event, with cars eventually following in 1922. The inaugural 24-hour race at Spa was held in 1924, and the circuit hosted its first major formula race – the European Grand Prix – a year later.

1970 marked the final race on what was then a 14-kilometre course, as the cars had become too fast for the track. The present circuit was opened in 1979. There was no Formula One race at Spa in 2003, and the Bus Stop chicane was modified ahead of the 2004 event. After the 2005 GP, F1 again gave Spa a miss. For 2007 a new pit lane awaited and the Bus Stop section, including the pit lane approach, was modified once more.

The fast and challenging track has been the scene of plenty of accidents down the years, some with tragic consequences. The biggest pile-up in F1 history occurred in 1998 in the La Source hairpin just after the start, though fortunately none of the drivers was injured. To date, 41 Belgian Grands Prix have been held at Spa. A further ten have taken place in Zolder and two in Nivelles.

safe1 wrote: Always look forward to watching this race, ready for the unexpected.A great circuit to drive on if you get the chance,there is only one Eau Rouge even in our road cars!!.

BMW Sauber F1 Team - Belgian Grand Prix - Qualifying

Weather: dry, overcast, 13-16°C Air, 22-32°C Track

Spa-Francorchamps (BE). The BMW Sauber F1 Team put in the best qualifying result of the 2009 season to date with Nick Heidfeld third and Robert Kubica fifth. In the morning’s free practice it had looked promising with Heidfeld fastest overall and Kubica sixth.

Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.09-07 / BMW P86/9
Qualifying 3rd, 1:46.500 min (3rd Free Practice: 1st, 1:45.388 min)
“Today’s good result is obviously very important for our team. After BMW announced it was pulling out of the sport we are working on securing the future for the team in Hinwil. Nobody has given up in this difficult period of time and today’s qualifying result is a reward for it. We did our homework in practice, made several changes and I’m quite happy with the balance of the car. I think the fact that the 2009 cars are run on a medium downforce level here for the first time this year might be the reason for the grid being very different to previous races. In Q2 I firstly got stuck in traffic and then at my second outing I had a set of tyres which wasn’t as good, therefore I knew I would go faster once I was in Q3. I still wouldn’t mind a wet race tomorrow – even though I’m third and we did not take it into consideration in terms of fuel load and downforce level.”

Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.09-08 / BMW P86/9
Qualifying 5th, 1:46.586 min (3rd Free Practice: 6th, 1:45.987 min)
“Even yesterday we had a good feeling as we were quite competitive. When we changed the engine before this morning’s practice session, I immediately started losing speed on the straights. Unfortunately we were not able to solve the problem before qualifying. This is a bit unlucky as we have a very competitive car for the first time this season. I hope we can solve this issue by tomorrow. I expect a tough race tomorrow as the pack is close together.”

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
“As has happened in a couple of previous races this season, the balance of power got pretty heavily shaken up today. Of course we are very happy with this qualifying result. For the first time this season we were able to reclaim the position that we safely had last year. It seems that our car and its tyres are a pretty good combination on this track. That makes me confident for tomorow’s race. Congratulations to Giancarlo Fisichella and Force India for the first pole position of the team.”

Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering):
“Of course qualifying third and fifth is fantastic. Yesterday’s results indicated our performance could be pretty good here. We improved the car’s set-up overnight and learnt quite a lot about the optimum use of the tyres. This was the basis for the strong qualifying. After the tough last couple of weeks, the qualifying result is a reward for the entire team who worked flat out on the further development of the car. A big Thank You to the entire team.”

BMW Sauber F1 Team - Belgian Grand Prix - Race

Weather: dry, partly cloudy, 16-18°C Air, 28-34°C Track

Spa-Francorchamps (BE). The BMW Sauber F1 Team walks away from Spa with a further nine championship points in its pocket. This is exactly the total the team has collected in all the previous eleven races this year. While Robert Kubica improved from fifth on the grid to fourth in the Belgian Grand Prix, his team mate, Nick Heidfeld, was not so happy as he started third and finished fifth in the race. The team had the pace to record the second and third fastest laps in the race.

Robert Kubica: 4th
BMW Sauber F1.09-08 / BMW P86/9
Fastest lap 1:47.664 min on lap 41 (3rd fastest overall)
“I managed to make a good start and was second after the first corner. I was surprised to see Kimi next to me going through Eau Rouge. Approaching the fifth corner he braked very late and went off. It is a very tricky place. He came back on the track right in front of me and I played it safe as we saw a lot of accidents there over the weekend. Although we had a slight touch, I was able to continue. At times we lacked a bit of speed but, of course, it is good to be fighting for podiums again. The result means a lot of points for the team and is good. Unfortunately we didn’t have the chance to achieve anything better. The result proves we are quite competitive on low downforce tracks, which is a positive sign for Monza. However, we have to analyse why the car was more competitive and felt better during qualifying yesterday.”

Nick Heidfeld: 5th
BMW Sauber F1.09-07 / BMW P86/9
Fastest lap 1:47.371 min on lap 35 (2nd fastest overall)
“Although it is a good result for the team, I have to admit I’m disappointed. From third on the grid I had higher expectations, but I lost the race on the first lap. My thought pattern before the race went back and forth as to whether I should take the harder or the softer compound for the start. The harder was the quicker one but, of course, not the better one for heating up quickly. Because the sun was shining I went for the harder compound, and paid for it. After the start I tried to out brake Jarno on the inside of La Source, but I lost ground because the tyres weren’t warm enough. Up the hill to turn five several cars were in the gravel, including me, and that’s where I lost more positions. Later at my first pit stop I had to lock up the brakes in the pit lane to avoid crashing into Mark, who I was then able to immediately overtake on the track. In the last stint my pace was really good and I closed the gap to Robert. But, even though I was quicker than him, I couldn’t overtake because as soon as you are less than two seconds behind another car you start sliding due to losing downforce in the dirty air.”

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
“After our best qualifying this was also the best race result of the season. With fourth and fifth we were the only team that managed to get both cars into the top eight, and we scored nine championship points. Nick lost the chance of a podium position on the thrilling first lap. Robert damaged his front wing right at the beginning, but was able to continue. A big compliment to the whole team for this strong performance.”

Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering):
“We were all very excited before the start because we expected some action. And this happened exactly as expected. Unfortunately, Nick lost the advantage of his strong starting position in the chicane after the Kemmel straight. After this incident he was able to maintain a very good pace and he finally clinched fifth. Robert had contact with another car right at the beginning and lost part of his front wing. We checked the aero data and decided it would not make sense to bring him into the pits, which turned out to be the right decision. Today’s result is the reward for all our hard work during recent weeks."