BMW WilliamsF1 Team Reactions Bahrain GP

By BMW WilliamsF1 Team
April 3 2005

 
Reactions ... Bahrain GP Race
 
In the heat of the Bahrain desert, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team collected three points thanks to Mark Webber who finished in sixth position. Team mate Nick Heidfeld had to retire due to an engine failure around the mid-race distance.

Test: Barcelona: 6-8 April / N. Heidfeld 6,7 / A. Pizzonia 6,8 / M. Webber 7,8
Le Castellet: 13-14 April / M. Webber + A. Pizzonia both days.
 
Mark Webber
Mark Webber
6th
Chassis: FW27 03 - Best time: 1:33.087min (lap 20, 10th overall)
"It was a tough race for me. Unfortunately with about 20 laps to go I had a spin at turn 10 when I was running third and I lost two positions. My tyres were in bad shape after I spun and the car was difficult to drive because of strong vibrations. So in the last few laps I lost one position to de la Rosa. Everyone in the team did a very good job and also Michelin provided us with good tyres. Now I am looking forward to Imola."
 
Nick Heidfeld
 Nick HeidfeldDNF (engine failure on lap 26)
Chassis: FW27 04 - Best time: 1:33.055min (lap 19, 9th overall)
"It’s disappointing not to finish the race, especially because I was running in a very good position and I was on course to collect several useful points. On the other side one has to consider that my engine was the only one in the field that had run in Malaysia already and was having its’ second Grand Prix here, in such extreme conditions. Everybody is working flat out at WilliamsF1 and at BMW and it’s a shame what happened, nevertheless I am sure we will get some reward in the next races."
 
Dr Mario Theissen BMW Motorsports Director
 Mario Theissen"After a strong qualifying we were hoping for more from this race. The intense heat compromised us in two ways. First of all Nick drove the only car with an engine that had already endured the Malaysian heat. The combined temperature effects of both those races was obviously too much. We will find out in Munich what was the exact reason for the failure. The other reason is that even with the car’s maximum cooling configuration we were running at thermal-limits and we could not exploit our engines to their full revs and this contributed to Mark being unable to properly
defend his good position."
 
Sam Michael Chief Operations Engineer WilliamsF1
 Sam Michael"This is obviously not the result we were aiming for after qualifying. In the ambient conditions we ran the engine at its thermal limits, which may have contributed to Nick’s engine failure. In terms of lap times we had to manage the engine revs during the race which made it difficult for both drivers to defend. Either way we are confident that we will be able to race more strongly in Imola."
 
 
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