Spanish Grand Prix - RACE 8th May 2005

Weather: Sunny, dry. Temp: Air 24-25°C, Track 45-46°C Barcelona
(ESP). Mark Webber collected three points today for the BMW WilliamsF1
Team, finishing in 6th position. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld fought his way
up from 17th on the grid to 10th place. Mark Webber: 6th Best time:
1:16.761in (lap 62, 9th overall) Chassis: FW27 05 - BMW P84/5 engine
1st GP The start was tricky because I was on the dirty side of the
track and I lost one position there. I didn't want to risk too much
with Ralf Schumacher at the first corner to protect my position. Then I
was stuck for a while behind Ralf and Alonso, which was a shame,
because I was lighter than them. We decided to change strategy and go
for two stops instead of three but the fuel load was quite hard on the
tyres then, causing quite a bit of deterioration and consequent
vibrations in the car. At the end of the day we collected some useful
points. Nick Heidfeld: 10th Best time: 1:16.519 (lap 60, 7th overall)
Chassis: FW27 06 - BMW P84/5 engine 1st GP I had a reasonable start but
the Minardi in front of me stalled on the grid and I had to avoid it.
That was very close and it cost me a bit of time. Then I managed to
overtake a couple of cars, which was good but after that I was stuck
behind Villeneuve who unfortunately pitted later than me, so I had to
push very hard after my pit-stop with a lot of fuel on board. Later I
was again stuck behind other cars. Anyway, there's not much more you
can expect starting from so far back. Sam Michael (Technical Director
WilliamsF1): With Mark's car we did not achieve the best possible
result. Considering he was 5th after first qualifying yesterday we took
a bit of a gamble on strategy by going for a short first stint. But the
start was not good enough to make the strategy work so we then changed
our schedule when Mark pitted for the first time, after 18 laps.
Regarding Nick's car, we raced with the handicap that he had to start
from the back of the grid. His race obviously was hampered by traffic
but we had no mechanical problems in the race. Mario Theissen (BMW
Motorsport Director): After qualifying we were hoping for more. Mark had
a very bad start and was never in a position to benefit from the
strategy that he was on. Nick improved from the end of the grid to
tenth position. He was quick when he had no traffic, which was not very
often the case. The engines which were built over Friday night in
Munich worked fine. Test: Vallelunga: 10-12 May (Andy Priaulx 10, M.
Webber 11-12, A. Pizzonia all days)