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 Thursday, 15 May 2008 |
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AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX, MARCH 4 - 6, 2005, PREVIEW |
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Written by Jeff Seabrook
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Monday, 28 February 2005 |
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Australian Grand Prix 4 - 6 March 2005 - PREVIEW With a new and revitalised driver line-up, Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld will launch the BMW WilliamsF1 Team's 2005 Formula One campaign in Melbourne on Sunday March, 6, the first of a 19 race championship which will conclude in eight months time in China. For Mark in particular, his BMW WilliamsF1 debut will be especially poignant at his home race, where in 2002 in his debut Formula One race he delighted the home crowd by claiming a stunning fifth place, and grabbing the attention of the Formula One paddock.
Since launching the FW27 chassis and the BMW P84/5 engine, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team has completed 25,370 test kilometres on three different tracks, generating an impressive pre-season reliability record. Michelin too have moved forward significantly with a one-race, harder compound tyre achieving long run lap times roughly comparable with the best times achieved by shorter life tyres last season.
Mark Webber:
Clearly Melbourne is a very special race for me as I'll be competing in front of my home country. It's always a great experience and the party atmosphere around Albert Park is amazing. I hope we can give the crowd something to cheer about by getting the new season off to a good start. I feel I always drive pretty well at Melbourne, it's a track I quite enjoy, but it's always a tough race in terms of reliability, I've had two non-finishes in the last two years but finished fifth in my first race there. I would love to improve upon that result this year.
Being a street circuit, Melbourne provides a good challenge for the drivers. There'll be a lot of other categories racing over the course of the weekend which means the track will be relatively clean for the Formula One cars which is always good news. Australia will be the first race under the new regulations and everyone is going to learn a lot from having to look after the same set of tyres for both qualifying sessions and the race, that's going to be very demanding for the drivers and the teams. I'm expecting it to be a very close fight at the front and it would be great if we could come away from the first race with some points in the bag which we could take onto Malaysia and the rest of the season.
Nick Heidfeld:
I've just finished a very busy period of testing and I'm really looking forward to the first race. I have reached one of my targets by joining a top team, now I want to work on my track performance. The track in Melbourne is nice and demanding for the drivers. At the start of the weekend it will offer only a small amount of grip but, as the weekend progresses, this will change significantly. We proved reliable during winter testing, and this could be a decisive factor in Australia. The balance on the FW27 is generally better than that on the FW26, and for Melbourne we will be getting some new aero parts in order to improve its downforce. Australia is my favourite holiday destination, so it is great that we are flying out a couple of days in advance to acclimatise.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1):
Melbourne is one of the most exciting races for everyone because we all want to know where everyone stands with their new cars. This year will be particularly interesting due to the rule changes. Albert Park is a street circuit, which implies low grip, while the layout is a combination of slow and medium speed corners but with two high speed sections. As with most circuits now, Melbourne requires maximum downforce settings, particularly with the rule changes over the winter that reduced front and rear downforce levels. The car's set-up leans towards giving good traction out of slow speed, something that is more difficult to achieve with the new cars. The number of braking events from speed means this circuit is hard on brakes.
This year will see a change in race strategies due to the two qualifying sessions where half of the grid position is taken from a low fuel session and the other half from a race fuel session. This means the effect on lap times of adding race fuel is halved and therefore teams will tend to run longer stints during the race.
We have been working hard over the winter on long endurance runs with the tyres to ensure we have enough data to make the correct compound choice. The new rules mean that one set of tyres must last for both the qualifying sessions and the race. This means the target has shifted towards a stronger race tyre, rather than a qualifying tyre. We have put a lot of effort into preparing our two new race drivers, Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld, for the race starts which has involved a lot of practice and analysis of data during testing.
With all the rule changes, there is sure to be a large change in aerodynamic and engine performance among the teams during the first four or five races as everyone will be on a steep learning curve. After that, it will come down to the normal test of which team can develop the hardest and fastest during the season.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
Following the end of winter testing, the anticipation for the start of the season is increasing day by day. Everyone in the team wants to know where we stand and can't wait for the race in Melbourne. The past few months were really a race for the engineers who had to react to the extensive rule changes in a very short period of time. For BMW, the goal was to achieve an engine that would last two race weekends. This is four times the duration which we had to achieve in 2003, and therefore a huge challenge for the engineers. We also have to complete qualifying and the race with just one set of tyres. Reliability will therefore be a deciding factor for success in Melbourne, and probably for much of the first half of the season.
Facts and Stats:
Circuit Albert Park, Melbourne
Date 6 March 2005
Start time (local/GMT) 14.00 / 03.00 hrs
Lap / race distance 5.303 km / 507.574 km (58 laps)
Winner 2004 Michael Schumacher (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro)
Pole 2004 Michael Schumacher (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) 1:24.408m
Lap record Michael Schumacher (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) 1:24.125m
BMW WilliamsF1 Team statistics: 85 starts, 10 victories, 16 pole positions
WilliamsF1, before 2000 361 starts, 103 victories, 108 pole positions
BMW, before 2000 97 starts, 9 victories, 15 pole positions
Schedule:
Free practice (Friday): 11.00 to 12.00 hrs and 14.00 to 15.00 hrs
Free practice (Saturday): 09.00 to 09.45 hrs and 10.15 to 11.00 hrs
Saturday qualifying: 13.00 hrs
Sunday qualifying: 10.00 hrs
Race: 14.00 hrs
The two qualifying sessions comprise single, timed laps. The driver with the fastest time in the first qualifying session is the last to go out on the track in second qualifying. The lap times of the two qualifying sessions are added together to determine the grid order. Parc fermé rules apply after both qualifying sessions have finished. The same set of tyres must be used for the two qualifying sessions and the race itself.
History and Background:
This year's race will be the 10th time that the Australian Grand Prix has been held on the Albert Park circuit. Before moving to Albert Park, the Grand Prix was held in Adelaide where WilliamsF1 claimed four victories.
WilliamsF1 last claimed victory in Melbourne in 1996 with Damon Hill.
In 2000, Ralf Schumacher took third place on the Anglo-German partnership's debut race, the most successful entry by an engine manufacturer since 1967.
Melbourne is located on the south eastern seaboard of Australia and is the capital of the state of Victoria. It is Australia's second biggest city and has a population of 3.2 million.
A Formula One parade will be held in the city centre from 12.30 to 13.30 on the Wednesday before the Grand Prix to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Melbourne race. Fans will have free entry to the race track on Thursday 3 March.
A celebrity charity race will be held over the Australian Grand Prix weekend with cars from the BMW 1 Series. The proceeds will be donated to help the victims of the tsunami.
Actress Bo Derek will wave the chequered flag at this year's Australian Grand Prix.
Mark Webber #7 Nick Heidfeld #8
Born 27/08/76, Queanbeyan (AUS) 10/05/77, Mönchengladbach (D) (GER)
Nationality Australian German
Residence Aylesbury (GB) Stäfa (CH)
Marital status Partner Ann Partner Patricia
Height 1.84 m 1.64 m
Weight 74 kg 59 kg
F1 debut Melbourne 2002 Melbourne 2000
GP starts 50 84
Points total 26 28Only registered users can write comments.
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