By BMW Sauber F1 Team
September 12 2008

In the first free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, neither of the two BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers completed more than an installation lap. Just a few minutes into the session, heavy rain began falling. Later in the session, conditions deteriorated to extent that the session was aborted.

Following last weekend's wet race at Spa-Franchorchamps, Belgium, the BMW Sauber F1 Team had looked forward to an Italian GP weekend in summery conditions. However, the first practice session in Monza's Royal Park started under heavily overcast skies, with temperatures barely reaching 20° C.

The 5.793-kilometre circuit was slightly wet when the light at the end of the pit-lane went green. Nonetheless, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica both went out to complete an installation lap in order to check the systems on the BMW Sauber F1.08 single-seaters. Subsequently, the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers waited in vain for better conditions.

In the closing stages of the session, the "Autodromo Nazionale di Monza" was hit by a massive thunderstorm and as a result parts of the pit facilities were virtually flooded. Consequently, the two installation laps represented the total mileage covered by the Munich and Hinwil based squad in session one. With five more minutes remaining, race control opted for aborting the session.

Nick and Robert hope that the conditions will be better at 14:00hrs local time (13:00hrs BST) when session two begins. Should this be the case, they can finally begin their preparation work for qualifying and the race.