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03-26-2005, 05:11 PM
Bahrain GP 1st-3rd April 2005
After a confident start to the 2005 season, BMW WilliamsF1 Team heads to the unique desert setting of Sakhir for the Bahrain Gran Prix. The team hopes to capitalize on the intense period of developmentwhich has seen an unprecedented number of changes to the FW27. With varying fortunes in the first two races of the year the teams driver pairing of Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber will be seeking to lead the team in a strong and consistent performance in the Middle East prior to the start of the European season.
Nick Heidfeld
I feel very confident about my finish in Malaysia so i am looking forward to the next race in Bahrain. The circuit can be very dirty as it lies in the middle of the desert so we might see less people going out at the beginning of the sessions than usual, in particular on the Friday. I think last year's Gran Prix in Bahrain was one of the most exciting races of the season so it's likely we will see another great race. Like Malaysia, Bahrain will be another hot race and so a tough challenge for the car, especially the engine. Bahrain will be the second race in a row for my engine, as well as some of the other drivers on the grid.
Mark Webber
After such an exciting race in Malaysia, we're expecting Bahrain to be very similar. We're clearly showing good progress with both Nick and myself running well in Malaysia, although it was a shame I was not able to finish the job. However Bahrain is a very different circuit from Malaysia with a lot of slow corners and long straights. It producd a very good Grand Prix last year with lots of overtaking and hopefully we can get closer to Renault, the current pacesetters, this time around.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, BMW Williams F1)
Following improved performance from the FW27 seen in Malaysia, we are looking forward to the Bahrain Gran Prix. The FW27 is getting faster but is not yet quick enough to be competing in the front of the feild, but that is our target.
The Bahrain circuit has some long straights and slow corners which drive the minimum downforce to drag requirement upwards. Although it is still a high downforce circuit, this means that minimizing drag is important in Bahrain. It will be interesting to see where all the teams are placed. Based on last year's race, there are planty of overtaking opportunities as well which should make for an exciting Grand Prix. We will have some aerodynamic improvements for the FW27 and Michelin will bring one known and one new tire choice. In terms of compound hardness we were still slightly conservative in the last race, but Michelin are getting closer to the optimum compound region now.
Pit strategy is likely to be similar to that seen in the first two races aside from driver mistakes, once Saturday Qualifying has been run it is quite difficult to significantly move up in grid position from Sunday's Qualifying sessionas the effect of the fuel load has been halved.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
The Malaysian GP confirmed two things. Firstly, the competition has changed in comparison to what it was in 2004. Secondly, the enormous efforts that have been put into the development of the chassis have bared fruit. In addition, our drivers have demonstrated their impressive racing ability.
From BMW's perspective, Sepang was the biggest challenge we have faced since returning to Formula 1. Not only because of the extreme heat in Malaysia, but also because Mark's (Webber) BMW P84/5 engine had already run the entire Austrailian GP, two weekends before. Despite this, we did not encounter any problems with the engines. That is encouraging, but we still need to be prepared for more heat in Bahrain. Mark (Webber) will have a fresh engine and Nick (Heidfeld) will continue to run the Malaysian GP engine.
Because of the dry desert wind, we might have to deal with very fine sand in Bahrain. In order to protect the engine's air intake
from this potential problem, we have prepared a finer air filter which features a denser weave that we will take to Bahrain. The balancing act is to provide as much protection as necassary, without reducing air flow.
STATS:
Circuit/Date: Bahrain International Cicuit 3rd April 2005
Start Time 14:30hrs (2:30PM local) (12:30UK)
Lap/Race Distance 5.417KM/308.523KM (57 laps)
Winner 2004: M. Schumacher
Pole 2004 M. Schumacher 1:30.139
Lap Record M. Schumacher 1:30.252
F1 Stats Starts Wins Poles
BMW WilliamsF1 87 10 16
Williams before 2000 361 103 108
BMW before 2000 97 9 15
After a confident start to the 2005 season, BMW WilliamsF1 Team heads to the unique desert setting of Sakhir for the Bahrain Gran Prix. The team hopes to capitalize on the intense period of developmentwhich has seen an unprecedented number of changes to the FW27. With varying fortunes in the first two races of the year the teams driver pairing of Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber will be seeking to lead the team in a strong and consistent performance in the Middle East prior to the start of the European season.
Nick Heidfeld
I feel very confident about my finish in Malaysia so i am looking forward to the next race in Bahrain. The circuit can be very dirty as it lies in the middle of the desert so we might see less people going out at the beginning of the sessions than usual, in particular on the Friday. I think last year's Gran Prix in Bahrain was one of the most exciting races of the season so it's likely we will see another great race. Like Malaysia, Bahrain will be another hot race and so a tough challenge for the car, especially the engine. Bahrain will be the second race in a row for my engine, as well as some of the other drivers on the grid.
Mark Webber
After such an exciting race in Malaysia, we're expecting Bahrain to be very similar. We're clearly showing good progress with both Nick and myself running well in Malaysia, although it was a shame I was not able to finish the job. However Bahrain is a very different circuit from Malaysia with a lot of slow corners and long straights. It producd a very good Grand Prix last year with lots of overtaking and hopefully we can get closer to Renault, the current pacesetters, this time around.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, BMW Williams F1)
Following improved performance from the FW27 seen in Malaysia, we are looking forward to the Bahrain Gran Prix. The FW27 is getting faster but is not yet quick enough to be competing in the front of the feild, but that is our target.
The Bahrain circuit has some long straights and slow corners which drive the minimum downforce to drag requirement upwards. Although it is still a high downforce circuit, this means that minimizing drag is important in Bahrain. It will be interesting to see where all the teams are placed. Based on last year's race, there are planty of overtaking opportunities as well which should make for an exciting Grand Prix. We will have some aerodynamic improvements for the FW27 and Michelin will bring one known and one new tire choice. In terms of compound hardness we were still slightly conservative in the last race, but Michelin are getting closer to the optimum compound region now.
Pit strategy is likely to be similar to that seen in the first two races aside from driver mistakes, once Saturday Qualifying has been run it is quite difficult to significantly move up in grid position from Sunday's Qualifying sessionas the effect of the fuel load has been halved.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
The Malaysian GP confirmed two things. Firstly, the competition has changed in comparison to what it was in 2004. Secondly, the enormous efforts that have been put into the development of the chassis have bared fruit. In addition, our drivers have demonstrated their impressive racing ability.
From BMW's perspective, Sepang was the biggest challenge we have faced since returning to Formula 1. Not only because of the extreme heat in Malaysia, but also because Mark's (Webber) BMW P84/5 engine had already run the entire Austrailian GP, two weekends before. Despite this, we did not encounter any problems with the engines. That is encouraging, but we still need to be prepared for more heat in Bahrain. Mark (Webber) will have a fresh engine and Nick (Heidfeld) will continue to run the Malaysian GP engine.
Because of the dry desert wind, we might have to deal with very fine sand in Bahrain. In order to protect the engine's air intake
from this potential problem, we have prepared a finer air filter which features a denser weave that we will take to Bahrain. The balancing act is to provide as much protection as necassary, without reducing air flow.
STATS:
Circuit/Date: Bahrain International Cicuit 3rd April 2005
Start Time 14:30hrs (2:30PM local) (12:30UK)
Lap/Race Distance 5.417KM/308.523KM (57 laps)
Winner 2004: M. Schumacher
Pole 2004 M. Schumacher 1:30.139
Lap Record M. Schumacher 1:30.252
F1 Stats Starts Wins Poles
BMW WilliamsF1 87 10 16
Williams before 2000 361 103 108
BMW before 2000 97 9 15