By BMW Sauber F1 Team
October 20 2006

In the first free practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix, the 18th and final round of the 2006 Formula One season, BMW Sauber F1 Team test and reserve driver Sebastian Vettel set a personal fastest lap time of 1:14.204 minutes to finish fourth. It was the young German's first appearance at the challenging "Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace". Nevertheless, he proved to be quick right away. While focusing on the set-up work and the tyre evaluations, the 19-year-old completed three stints and 29 laps respectively on the 4.309-kilometre track, thus being the third busiest driver of the session.

Sebastian improved continuously and in each of his three long-runs, he temporarily held top-three positions. He set a personal fastest lap time of 1:14.204 minutes and only in the dying seconds of the session, when McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen (1:13.764 minutes) leaped to the lead, he dropped down to fourth place.

Sebastian's team-mates, the BMW Sauber F1 Team GP regulars Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, did without completing timed laps and only went out for a shakedown lap each. Both drivers are going to contest the Brazilian GP weekend with the engines also used a fortnight ago in Japan.

In the third free practice session held from 14:00hrs local time (18:00hrs BST), we may expect all the three BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers to contribute to the preparation work.

Times:

Pos Driver Team Time

1 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.764

2 Anthony Davidson Honda 1:13.902

3 Alexander Wurz Williams-Cosworth 1:13.922

4 Sebastian Vettel Sauber-BMW 1:14.204

5 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.237

6 Jenson Button Honda 1:14.487

7 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:14.888

8 Neel Jani STR-Cosworth 1:15.159

9 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:15.661

10 Michael Ammermuller RBR-Ferrari 1:15.711

11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:16.168

12 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:16.534

13 Ernesto Viso MF1-Toyota 1:16.737

14 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth 1:17.047

15 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth 1:17.311

16 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.388

17 Franck Montagny Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.744

18 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW

19 Robert Kubica Sauber-BMW

20 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota

21 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota

22 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari

23 Robert Doornbos RBR-Ferrari

24 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault

25 Fernando Alonso Renault

26 Michael Schumacher Ferrari

27 Felipe Massa Ferrari

28 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth

29 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth