Formula One news

Our car was not competitive, says Theissen

The BMW Sauber team continued with its struggles in Monte-Carlo at the weekend. After a succesful season in 2008 and gradual progress since 2006, the white cars have scored just six points so far in 2009, although there was a failure to break the top ten Round 6. Team boss Mario Theissen confirmed after the race that the squad must improve its speed of development significantly in order to close the gap with its competitors.

Theissen (right), in discussion with driver Robert Kubica in Monaco

"A better result was not possible for us here this weekend," Dr. Theissen said after Sunday's race in the principality. "At no point was our car competitive - no points is the result. We have to improve our speed of development significantly in order to match our own expectations; Robert (Kubica) had a damaged tyre on lap two and later on suffered from brake problems, which caused him to retire."

BMW Sauber's head of engineering, Willy Rampf, agreed that BMW was very much out of shape this weekend and that much work lies ahead for the Hinwill-based team. "After the free practice and qualifying sessions it was clear that the race would be difficult," said Rampf. "Nick's (Heidfeld) race ran without any particular incidents - in the closing laps he was able to defend his position against Lewis (Hamilton) with worn out soft tyres. Overall, this was a disappointing weekend; it is now our goal to be competitive again in Istanbul - a lot of work lies ahead of us."

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