By BMW Sauber F1 Team
May 26 2007

From the beginning, weather forecasters had talked of a high probability of rain for the Monaco GP weekend. And on Saturday morning, the predictions proved to be right. The third free practice session was held in wet conditions. . Nevertheless, the crowds at the "Circuit de la Principauté" had the chance of witnessing lots of action, with the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers also adding to the show. Having completed a total of 18 laps, Nick Heidfeld proved to be the second-busiest driver of the 60-minute session - behind Toyota's Jarno Trulli. Robert Kubica added another 13 laps to the team's total practice mileage.

With temperatures reaching 24° C, track conditions at the 3.340-kilometre circuit changed several times. For the installation laps, completed in the opening stages on a damp track, the BMW Sauber F1.07s of Nick and Robert were shod with intermediates. A short time later, however, the circuit was hit by a downpour and the drivers had to change to Bridgestone's full wets.

For a major part of the session, Nick and Robert held top-ten positions. In the closing stages, however, there was another massive change to the conditions, with the drying track offering the chance of setting faster lap times. However, the pairing didn't bother to enter the battle for the top positions on the time sheets. Therefore, numerous opponents used the opportunity to pass Robert and Nick who dropped back to the final third of the field.

Robert set a personal fastest lap time of 1:38.463 minutes to finish 16th, with Nick having to settle for 18th place, recording a 1:38.899-minute lap. Spyker's Adrian Sutil caused a stir by being the quickest. On his final lap, the German lapped the circuit in 1:36.612 minutes.

The changeable conditions are also expected to spice up the show in qualifying (from 13.00hrs BST) and could possibly result in a surprising starting grid for the Monaco GP.