BMW Sauber F1 Team - 09 - Monaco Grand Prix

BMW Sauber F1 Team - Monaco Grand Prix - Preview

21st – 24th May 2009
6th of 17 World Championship races


Munich/Hinwil, 15th May 2009. The Monaco Grand Prix is both a relic of the past and a highlight of the Formula One calendar. Guests and teams alike will be looking to put on impressive displays around the narrow streets of the principality from 21st to 24th May.

Nowhere else do the drivers complete so many laps of the circuit (78), yet the race distance here is the shortest of any Formula One GP. The tightness of the track makes this an unforgiving place for the drivers: errors are punished with damaged cars, a successful overtaking manoeuvre is worthy of a knighthood, not just a place up the rankings. A good grid position is vital in Monaco, and qualifying is a correspondingly tense affair.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team is heading in an obvious direction. Extensive improvements were made to the F1.09 following a disappointing start to the season, and the Spanish Grand Prix pointed to an upward trend. A sudden leap to the front of the grid is not a realistic aim in Formula One, but the team’s positive progression is set to continue. The characteristics of the Monaco circuit present the teams with challenges they will encounter nowhere else during the course of the season, which adds additional intrigue to the question of performance.


Robert Kubica:
“I’m a big fan of street circuits, so I’m looking forward to the race in Monaco. I always have a really good feeling going into the weekend here and enjoy driving between the barriers and walls. There is no margin for error, which makes things particularly interesting. Of course, you can’t tell in advance how the 2009-spec cars will feel there with the new aerodynamics and slick tyres. We’ll find out more on Thursday.”


Nick Heidfeld:
“Monaco is one of the highlights of the season. It’s crazy that the venue least suited to Formula One is also the most popular. The tight and twisty street circuit is brilliant. Only Macau is comparable, but we don’t drive there in Formula One.

“There may be a bit less hype nowadays, but the Formula One weekend in Monte Carlo is still something special. It’s all about Formula One and parties. There are a lot of famous people around, the harbour is packed with yachts, the sound of the F1 engines reverberates across the principality, and the track is jammed with crowds of people through the evening. In Monaco the spectators get closer to the action than at any other venue. For me, every time I come here it’s a wonderful sight.

“On a few occasions already this season, the new, larger front wings have proved to be a bit awkward in the tight confines at the start of races. It’s extremely tight through the first corner in Monte Carlo, so there’s a big risk of knocking your front wing off against another car.”


Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director:
“We are currently experiencing an extremely demanding period for Formula One – both as a team on the race track and behind the scenes. In both cases, the important thing is to keep a cool head. We lined up at the Spanish Grand Prix with a far-reaching aerodynamic package. That was the result of some extremely hard work, but represents just the first step on a long road. We scored two points, which was extremely positive following the low-point we reached in Bahrain but clearly does not meet our aims. We will step up our pace of development. Monaco presents very specific challenges, as we all know, and the next performance package for the race in Istanbul is already being prepared.

“Monaco is one of the mainstays of Formula One and one of the circuits, alongside the Nürburgring, Spa, Monza and Silverstone, which has made the sport great. Monaco is Formula One up close and personal. Only street circuits like the one in the principality can bring the spectators so near to the action. This is the most famous and glamorous grand prix of the year. The yachts, the parties, the show business – nowhere are they such an integral part of the Formula One experience as in Monaco.

“In sporting terms, the important thing in Monaco is driving precision, mechanical grip and an engine with good drivability at low revs. Monaco has the lowest average speed of any grand prix. High levels of downforce are more important here than low drag, and the cars’ aerodynamics are therefore adjusted to generate maximum downforce. There are no long straights at this circuit, but it does have a lot of slow corners and the tyres are subjected to exceptionally high loads under acceleration out of these corners. Monaco is also a test of endurance for the brakes. The speeds the cars reach may not be very high, but that means there is also a lack of cooling airflow.”


Willy Rampf, Head of Engineering:
“Monaco has the lowest average speed of any circuit on the calendar, so we run maximum downforce on the cars. In the past, this meant that the teams often produced aerodynamic configurations which you didn’t see anywhere else – with small and also larger auxiliary wings sprouting out of the cars. That’s now a thing of the past, though, as the 2009 regulations no longer permit these kinds of modifications. As a result, the cars will run a similar amount of downforce to last weekend in Barcelona.

“The large number of tight corners in Monaco places a particular emphasis on grip, and we have prepared a specially optimised spring and damper set-up in response to this. The circuit is open to public traffic between practice sessions, which represents a particular challenge with the negative impact on grip levels. This means that the conditions – and therefore lap times – improve significantly in a short space of time as more rubber is laid down during the course of each practice session. The car’s steering lock is adjusted to the demands of the circuit; after all, Monaco has the tightest corner of any Formula One venue.”



Facts and figures:
Circuit/Date: Monaco / 24th May 2009
Start time (local/UTC): 14.00 hrs / 12.00 hrs
Lap/Race distance: 3.340 km / 260.520 km (78 laps)
Corners: 12 right-hand and 7 left-hand corners

Winner 2008: Lewis Hamilton, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, 2 hr 00:42.742 min
Pole position 2008: Felipe Massa, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, 1:15.787 min
Fastest lap 2008: Kimi Räikkönen, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, 1:16.689 min

Data 2008
Full-throttle percentage: 42%
Top speed: 286 km/h
Longest section at full throttle: 8 sec / 510 m
Gear changes per lap: 54
Tyre wear: medium
Brake wear: high
Downforce level: very high


BMW Sauber F1 Team
Founded: 01.01.2006
Locations: Munich (DE) and Hinwil (CH)
F1 debut: 2006, Melbourne
GP starts: 57
Pole positions: 1
Wins: 1
Podium places: 16 (6 x 3rd / 9 x 2nd / 1 x 1st)
Fastest laps: 2

World Championship placings:
5th (2006), 36 points
2nd (2007), 101 points
3rd (2008), 135 points
6th (2009), 6 points after 5 GPs


History and background:

Among the many peculiarities of the Monaco Grand Prix is the schedule for the race weekend: the Formula One engines traditionally remain switched off on the Friday, which is why the first two free practice sessions are held on Thursday.

Monaco has hosted 55 grands prix since 1950. The track’s distance has fluctuated between 3.145 kilometres and 3.370 km. For the first 14 GPs the race distance covered 100 laps. The most successful driver in Monaco to date remains Ayrton Senna with six wins.

There have only been garages for the cars alongside the pit lane in Monaco since 2004. Before this for each practice and qualifying session, and the race teams had to push the cars back and forth between makeshift garages in the paddock or an underground car park.

Covering an area of 1.97 square kilometres, Monaco is the world’s second smallest independent state after the Vatican and the most densely populated – 33,300 people live here. It is divided into ten districts: Monte Carlo, La Condamine, Fontvieille, Larvotto, Moneghetti, Saint Michel, Monaco Ville, La Rousse/Saint Roman, La Colle and Les Révoires.

Edited by Melvyn Pettit - 17 May 2009 at 10:52am

BMW Sauber F1 Team - Formula One congratulates MINI.

The two BMW Sauber F1.09s are racing in Monaco with birthday greetings to celebrate MINI’s 50th anniversary: The engine cover is branded “Happy Birthday MINI”, the rear wing “MINI turns 50”.

Edited by Melvyn Pettit - 21 May 2009 at 6:54pm

BMW Sauber F1 Team - Monaco Grand Prix - Race

Weather: dry and sunny, 25-26°C Air, 40-52°C Track

Monaco. The BMW Sauber F1 Team leaves Monaco empty handed. Nick Heidfeld finished 11th, while his team mate, Robert Kubica, retired after 29 laps because of brake problems.

Nick Heidfeld: 11th
BMW Sauber F1.09-06 / BMW P86/9
Fastest lap 1:16.268 min on lap 49 (15th fastest overall)
”I tried to make up positions at the start and on the first lap, but this time it just didn’t work out. It is too narrow here. I was stuck behind Adrian (Sutil) for quite a while. Apparently he had problems with his tyres, and once I even touched the rear of his car. In turn one Lewis (Hamilton) hit me, but I was happy I was able to continue. I was on a one stop strategy, and with the softer compound on the second stint I had degradation. We gave everything today but we were too slow here.”

Robert Kubica: Retired after 29 laps
BMW Sauber F1.09-03 / BMW P86/9
Fastest lap 1:17.558 min on lap 25 (17th fastest overall)
“We had difficulties over the entire weekend. I had a problem at the start and fell to the back of the grid. Then I had a puncture on my rear right tyre. After the necessary pit stop I was lapping well with a very heavy car – taking the car’s potential into account. In the end I had to retire as I had brake problems.”

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
“A better result was not possible for us here this weekend. At no point was our car competitive. No points are the result. We have to improve our speed of development significantly in order to match our own expectations. Robert had a damaged tyre on lap two and later on suffered from brake problems, which caused him to retire. Nick was the first driver to change to the softer tyre compound after a long first stint. Nobody else was on Option tyres for such a long period, and they degraded dramatically before recovering a little towards the end of the race.”

Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering):
“After the free practice and qualifying sessions it was clear that today’s race would be difficult. Nick’s race ran without any special incidents. In the closing laps he was able to defend his position against Lewis (Hamilton) with worn out soft tyres. Robert had a flat tyre early in the race. Surprisingly, he was then able to do good lap times with a very heavy car. We had to bring his car back to the pits early due to a brake problem. Overall, this was a disappointing weekend. It is now our goal to be competitive again in Istanbul. A lot of work lies ahead of us."