"I really don't have any special feeling in my mind for the track. There are long straights, which are punctuated by the last corner, which is banked, and then you come into a part where it is very slow. But you have to have the right configuration between high speed and slow corners, so I think it is a good track for our cars."
While Kubica won't know whether he can take his place alongside Heidfeld until Thursday's
FIA medical check -
Sebastian Vettel and
Timo Glock remain on standby - Heidfeld is already looking forward to chasing another podium result in the US.
"I like it when race tracks have a distinctive character, and that's definitely the case with Indianapolis," the German says, "The Speedway is an icon of American motor racing, and the high-banked turn is something special for
Formula One, although it isn't exactly challenging for the drivers to drive flat out in a straight line. It's far more difficult to get the car's set-up just right. You have to find the right compromise so as to be as fast as possible along the almost two-kilometre full-throttle stretch, yet still have enough downforce for the many corners in the twisty infield."
A good result will go some way to erasing memories of last year's roll at the first corner, caused when the two McLarens - then driven by Juan Montoya and
Kimi Raikkonen - precipitated a multiple pile-up. This year, a repeat incident could give
BMW Sauber a shot at a good result.
"In the past, BMW has lost a lot of points in Indianapolis as a result of accidents," motorsport director Mario Theissen admits, "From that point of view, my hope is, above all, for a collision-free weekend."
Technical director Willy Rampf, meanwhile, is the man left to wrestle with the dilemma of finding the right set-up for the quirky circuit.
"The Indianapolis Speedway is fundamentally different from the circuit at Montreal, yet both tracks demand a medium downforce level," he explains, "At Indy, that is the result of a tricky compromise. On the oval section, you have the longest flat-out stretch on the whole
F1 calendar and, to achieve maximum top speed, you would want to take a very low wing setting and minimal drag. But, with a low-downforce package of the kind we use in Monza, there wouldn't be nearly enough downforce for the eleven turns in the infield section. If you haven't got sufficient braking stability and traction in these corners, you lose more time than can be gained on the straights.
"These radically different demands made by the oval and the infield section turn set-up work at Indy into a fine balancing act but, in 2006, we made quite a good job of it."
Toyota – Ralf Schumacher (#11), Jarno Trulli (#12):
Toyota’s lacklustre season received an equally meagre one point boost in the carnage of the Canadian Grand Prix, with an under scrutiny Ralf Schumacher giving himself a potential reprieve by finishing eighth.
