Weather: sunny and dry in the afternoon, 19-23°C air, 21-42°C track
Barcelona (ESP). It was a trouble-free first practice day in Spain for all three BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers. As usual Robert Kubica had a heavy work load and completed 55 laps, while Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve got used to the Barcelona track and its changing conditions, which saw rain in the morning and bright sunshine in the afternoon.

Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.06-02/BMW P86
1st Practice: No time / 2nd Practice: 12th, 1:17.622s
We had a trouble free day with everything running smoothly, and my work included the tyre comparisons.

Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.06-05/BMW P86
1st Practice: 4th, 1:16.628s / 2nd Practice: 13th, 1:17.844s
In the morning the track was wet, so we had to wait for it to dry and there was no grip. We concentrated on tyre testing, and this went pretty well. We need to be sure of the right decisions for the race and we have come to some conclusions, so that is important. In the second free practice the track had a lot of rubber so I got a lot of understeer, but I had to complete my programme so could not adjust the car. Obvioulsy the more rubber that is laid down the better the track will get, and so tomorrow it should be pretty good.

Jacques Villeneuve:
BMW Sauber F1.06-03/BMW P86
1st Practice: No time / 2nd Practice: 16th, 1:18.007s
It is very windy so the track is very different to when we were here testing, and as well as that it is a lot hotter. I did a couple of runs. One was with high fuel for the race, as I am going to have to start from the back, so I have been concentrating on that. This is not a good overtaking track so it will be tough to move to the front.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
We completed our scheduled programme without any problems, and from the information have been able to base the decisions for our tyre choice and car set up. Today we witnessed Barcelona's well known characteristic of conditions that change quite often and at short notice. This affects the temperatures, rubber on the track and the wind.

Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis):
We are satisfied with our lap times and performance and had no mechanical problems. Our programme contained tyre comparison and race preparation work. It was quite a varied programme despite the fact all the teams test here quite a lot. We have to do this because the track changes frequently during the day. We now have a lot of data to check, but I think we are well prepared for the weekend.

European Grand Prix – Race, Sunday – 07.05.06
Weather: sunny and dry, Air 20°C, Track 38-39°C

Nürburg (DEU). After excellent starts and a promising first part of the race, at the end of the day the race pace of the BMW Sauber F1.06 was not good enough. Jacques Villeneuve came eighth in the European Grand Prix at the Nürburigng and scored one point for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Nick Heidfeld finished tenth.

Jacques Villeneuve: 8th
BMW Sauber F1.06-03/BMW P86
Fastest Lap: 1:34.037 min on lap 38 (12th fastest overall)
Overall a good result for us. It was very close with Fisichella and was a good battle. With the car he had I thought he would overtake me, but he stayed behind until the second pit stop so that was good. Coming out of the pits each time with a high fuel load the car was hard to drive, but once we got the tyres used up the rhythm was good as the older the tyres were the better the car felt.

Nick Heidfeld: 10th
BMW Sauber F1.06-05/BMW P86
Fastest Lap: 1:34.035 min on lap 47 (11th fastest overall)
I made a super start and was able to make up four positions in the first corner. I then tried very hard but I couldn’t keep up with the pace of the drivers in front of me. I was struggling with the balance of the car, which is a problem I have had since the Imola race and I don’t have a solution yet. We have to analyse this as a matter of urgency.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
From our point of view the race reflected the rest of the weekend. We were simply not fast enough. At least Jacques had the speed to stay in the points for two thirds of the race, but during and after the second pit stop he could not keep up the same pace as some of his competitors. Nick was able to make up some positions in the first corners, but later in the race he also came under pressure. However, after a relatively poor performance on Friday, we can be satisfied with this one championship point. There were no technical problems at all in the race. Congratulations to Michael Schumacher and Ferrari for a very convincing victory.

Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis):
Both our drivers made excellent starts and made up places in the early stages. For our team it was a very exciting race because we were involved in battles for position the whole time. Both cars ran without even the smallest problem over the entire weekend, so the championship point is a well deserved reward.