By BMW Sauber F1 Team
September 13 2008

The third practice session for the Italian Grand Prix was a virtual repeat of what the teams and drivers had to face on Friday morning. Once again, the session started in wet conditions with a light drizzle, and again the rain got stronger and stronger throughout the session. Therefore, the times set were of no real significance.

20 minutes into the session, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica both went out for their first stints and once again, Nick demonstrated his extraordinary wet-weather skills.

With a personal best time of 1:36.972 minutes, clocked on his fifth lap, he took 6th position on the time sheets. Meanwhile, Robert also achieved his personal best time on his fifth lap. The Pole crossed the line in 1:37.671 minutes to temporarily take ninth position but during the course of the session he dropped back to 12th.

Later in the session, Nick was one of the very few drivers to complete another two short stints in torrential rain but, of course, he had no chance of improving his lap time in these conditions. "I think we shouldn't contest the qualifying should the conditions stay like this," he told the BMW Sauber F1 Team pit crew via the pit radio. 

According to the weather forecasters, the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers will have to  prove their wet-weather skills again this afternoon. Should the weather experts be right, the qualifying session, scheduled for 14:00hrs CEST (13:00hrs BST), will also be held in wet conditions.