The target: more podium places.
Munich/Hinwil. They’re certainly on the right path, but there’s still a way to
go. After a promising debut year in Formula One, the BMW Sauber F1 Team is gearing up for the next step in 2007. In the coming season, the newly established team will continue to pursue its development agenda as planned. The sporting target is clear: more podium places in 2007. At the same
time, staff expansion at Hinwil is scheduled to be completed, bringing the total workforce in Switzerland to 430. By the end of the year the new building complex will also be finished, and the BMW Sauber F1 Team will have reached its full complement.
“In 2006 we exceeded our own targets. Now expectations are rising faster than the team can keep up. That’s the penalty for excelling yourself”,
says BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen, going on to spell out the team’s strategy: “2007 is the second and final year of our development
phase. We aim to make it onto the podium on our own merit. If the top teams show any sign of weakness, we want to be ready to jump into the
breach. Wins on our own merit are not realistically on the cards for 2007.
We are aiming for that in 2008. Then in 2009 we want to be in contention
for the championship title.”
The BMW Sauber F1 Team’s first year in motor sport’s top-echelon event has undeniably whetted the appetite for more. On the podium twice, in the points 15 times, a commendable fifth place in the constructors’ championship – the BMW Sauber F1 Team fared better than anyone had anticipated. “That really was more than the experts would have expected of a newly formed team”, says Theissen. “The grand prix stage is gradually revealing the sheer hard graft and single-minded effort going on behind the scenes.”
125 employees have already been taken on at Hinwil and another 30 are to follow, all of them having to be integrated there as well as being networked with the almost 300-strong Formula One workforce in Munich. It is no easy task when dealing with such numbers, as you simply can’t afford to lose sight of the big picture. So far everything has run according to plan. Theissen
is acutely aware that the rate of growth cannot be accelerated, particularly as many members of staff have been temporarily relocated and are carrying out
their tasks in rented offices before moving into the finished complex in Hinwil. This will house not only test facilities, laboratories and development departments, but office accommodation as well. Things are still rather crowded at Hinwil, but the end of the stopgap solutions is in sight.
For all the new faces there might be at Hinwil, those of the team drivers are familiar ones. Nick Heidfeld (GER) and Robert Kubica (PLN) will be battling for championship points as the team drivers. Sebastian Vettel (GER), who has been working as the Friday driver ever since the Turkish GP in 2006, is the official test and reserve driver. Theissen comments on this sparkling cocktail of established routine and fresh blood: “We are very satisfied with our line-up. Nick is our experienced man. He is fast and reliable and has the know-how to take the team forward. All that makes him a firm fixture and an important reference point for the engineers and the other drivers. Robert has already proved that he is fast, and he’ll catch up on the routine side. The two of
them work well together and engage in healthy competition out on the track. As for Sebastian, we will be giving him the opportunity to drive on Fridays as well. He will learn from the other two.”
Heidfeld, who collected the most points for the team in 2006, says this:
“After our good maiden season we now have to continue along our path.
But one mustn’t expect too much as the higher you go, the more rarefied the atmosphere gets. In our first year we picked up 36 points and fifth place
in the championship. But the fourth-placed team walked away with 86 points. That’s worlds apart.”
“I learnt a lot in 2006”, says Kubica, “and in 2007 I want to put it into action and learn more. To be standing on the podium for the first time after a Formula One race was an incredible experience. I want more of it.”
Sebastian Vettel outlines his task: “The better I get to know the car and the team, the more I can support them with my test work. I will make every effort to do as much groundwork as possible for Nick and Robert.”
It will be interesting to see what effect the switch to a single tyre supplier has in 2007. The Formula One teams will all be lining up with Bridgestone Potenza tyres over the coming season following the withdrawal of Michelin from the World Championship. BMW had been supplied by Michelin
in Formula One since 2001, while Sauber can look back on the experience collected with Bridgestone between 1999 through to 2004. “A single tyre supplier will close the performance gap between the teams”, confirms Theissen.
In addition to the new tyre stipulations, there have also been changes to the regulations in other areas. The major technical modifications include further restrictions on engine specification. The powerplants introduced for 2007 will provide the technical basis for the teams’ engines up to and including the 2010 season. Engine speed is capped at 19,000 rpm and the units once again have to cover two GP weekends, although the Fridays are now exempt from this rule. In 2007 the Fridays will feature two 90-minute sessions in which the teams may send out a maximum of two cars. This will mean much more on-track action on the first day of the weekend. Testing, however,
will be substantially reduced, with the teams each allowed to cover a maximum of 30,000 kilometres in 2007. In 2006, the BMW Sauber F1 Team racked
up 43,659 test kilometres alone between January and the end of the season.
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