Spanish GP - Race
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)
