By Jamie Makin
April 1 2005

SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve finished 17th and 20th respectively after today’s first practice sessions for the Bahrain Grand Prix. But don't panic as you read the slow times posted by the blue cars today. The team decided to forego work towards the qualifying sessions and concentrate fully on race setup and preparation. Because of this, both C24's were heavy with fuel and therefore off the pace of the front-running teams.

Felipe Massa was actually happy with his lap times. "We worked purely on setting the car up today, and considering our strategy in relation to others', I am encouraged," said the Brazilian. "We are closer than it looks from the lap times, and much stronger than we were in Sepang."

Jacques Villeneuve has continued his quest to become comfortable with the C24 and is sounding optimistic as well. "The car feels much better than it did in Malaysia and I did a lot more laps with it working properly than I was able to there," explained the Canadian. "I know that we can work further on it to keep improving throughout the weekend."

The team continue to work towards securing their first points of the season in what will be the team's 200th grand prix. "Today we concerned ourselves wholly with race preparation and tyre evaluation, and did not therefore do low-fuel runs," explained technical director Willy Rampf. "We have amassed a lot of data for analysis before we make our tyre choice for the remainder of the weekend, and so far we are satisfied with our programme."

Based on the team's work today, do not expect a great showing during qualifying tomorrow but consider the possibility that the team will use a minimal number of pitstops in hopes of improving their positions during Sunday's race.

Friday, Free Practice 1:

Driver	Chassis	Position	Best Time	Laps
J. Villeneuve	C24-03	17	1:37.112 (+5.663)	8
F. Massa	C24-02	12	1:34.875 (+3.426)	6
Spare Car	C24-01	-	-	-

Friday, Free Practice 2:

Driver	Chassis	Position	Best Time	Laps
J. Villeneuve	C24-03	20	1:34.300 (+3.605)	19
F. Massa	C24-02	17	1:33.726 (+3.031)	18
Spare Car	C24-01	-	-	-

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