BMW Sauber has completed a ‘far from perfect' three days of testing in Valencia this week as the weather continued to play havoc with its pre-season testing efforts, but the team has nevertheless left the Spanish circuit in positive frame of mind.
A damp surface in the morning gave way to sunshine in the afternoon, with
Nick Heidfeld proving narrowly to be the quickest of the three drivers present at the exclusive test, pipping team-mate
Robert Kubica by less than four hundredths of a second as the pairing completed 59 and 70 laps respectively. Both drove in the afternoon only, working on further honing the
F1.08's set-up.
Test driver Christian Klien was also handed the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the Munich and Hinwil-based squad's new challenger, covering 32 laps on a wet track. The Austrian spent his time familiarising himself with both the car and the working procedures of the team, in addition to conducting several practice starts and pit-stops.
“Apart from Thursday afternoon, weather conditions were far from perfect during the three days,” acknowledged BMW technical director Willy Rampf, after Heidfeld and Kubica between them registered 414 laps over the course of the test. “This made work difficult for the engineers.
“Nevertheless, this was an important and positive test for the team. We were able to complete a race simulation with both cars – including pit-stops – without any problems. This underlines the high level of reliability of the new car.
“In addition we tested some newly-developed parts. We will do more set-up work with the F1.08 next week during the final pre-season test in Barcelona.”
