Formula One news

BMW yet to find ideal setup

The BMW team was lower down the order than expected in Friday's second practice for this weekend's Australian Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld was the quickest of the pairing in 14th position, 1.3 seconds off the leading pace, with team-mate Kubica right behind him. The white cars were mostly concentrating on developing the best setups possible for Sunday's race.

Willy Rampf, Head of Engineering

Heidfeld, equiped with the new Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), was optimistic following his day's running: "It was great fun to drive here today, and was high time the season started. We had no technical problems and completed our entire programme, with the usual tyre comparison and long runs. The Albert Park circuit isn't a permanent race track and, therefore, naturally has a very low grip level at the beginning of the race weekend. It improved a little during the two practice sessions but even in the end it wasn't good."

Team Head of Engineering, Willy Rampf, reported no difficulties with the KERS device but did admit that the squad is not yet totally happy with its setup work. "Overall we are lacking grip," drive Robert Kubica confirmed. "We have have to find out why."

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