It was Friday free practice for the team today and remembering that it is the first practice of the season and a lot of setup work needs to be done so lap times can be unpredictable. In both sessions BMW Sauber were lower in the standings then many expected more so in practice session 2 than earlier in session 1. Nick Heidfeld was driving the KERS equipped car he will be using in the race and as far as that was concerned it was flawless and not a worry at all. There were no technical problems with either car today, but grip was a problem as they worked on the best setup for the grand prix. Nick Heidfeld put it down to a very green track with no rubber to provide the grip while Robert Kubica was more critical saying they simply had no grip.

I don’t think this will be a big deal come Sunday and the practice times were nothing I didn’t expect.

Nick Heidfeld:

“It was great fun to drive here today. It was high time the season started. We had no technical problems and completed our entire programme – with the usual tyre comparison and long runs. The Albert Park circuit isn’t a permanent race track and, therefore, naturally has a very low grip level at the beginning of the race weekend. It improved a little during the two practice sessions but even in the end it wasn’t good.”

Robert Kubica:

“It was the first Friday of the season, but, apart from that, it was the normal work improving the set-up and evaluating the tyres for the race. We collected a lot of data which we have to analyse so we can make more progress. Overall we are lacking grip, and we have to find out why.”

Willy Rampf:

“At last the new season has started! We did not have any technical problems today, KERS also worked without any difficulties. We were able to complete our full programme. The focus was the set-up work for the race, but so far we are not satisfied with this. The decisive factor will be to use the tyre performance perfectly for both specifications. We will concentrate on this in the third practice.”