Both Sauber Drivers Face Problems

By Jamie Makin
May 30 2004

SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa finished 16th and 20th respectively after today´s first practice sessions for the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

Friday, Free Practice 1:

Driver	Chassis	Best Time	Position
G. Fisichella	C23-03	No Time	25
F. Massa	C23-06	1:31.673	7
Spare Car	C23-01	-	-

Thursday, Free Practice 2:

Driver	Chassis	Best Time	Position
G. Fisichella	C23-03	1:30.974	16
F. Massa	C23-06	1:32.310	20
Spare Car	C23-01	-	-

After being turned upside down at last weekend's race in Monte Carlo, Giancarlo Fisichella was looking for good results at Germany's Nurburgring to put the incident behind him. Unfortunately on the first lap of practice today, he blew an engine and will pay the penalty of losing ten grid positions off tomorrow's qualifying results. He talked about his disappointment, "It was most unfortunate that I had an engine problem after such a short time this morning. Obviously that lost me valuable track time, but by far the most serious effect is that I must lose 10 grid places tomorrow. Right now I am feeling a little bit unlucky."

Last year, the team suffered disappointment after qualifying here as well with Nick Heidfeld starting from the very back of the grid. Heidfeld was able to work his way through the field to finish eight and score a point. Sauber has done well here in recent years, so all is not necessarily lost for Fisichella. The Nurburgring is a rarity among modern Formula One tracks in that there are several good overtaking spots, which should help Fisichella during the race.

Teammate Felipe Massa also suffered problems in the second session, but will not lose any grid positions as a result. "This afternoon something went wrong with the electrics on my car, and I stopped by Turn 10 where Giancarlo stopped this morning," he said. "There was no warning, it just cut out. I was on a new set of tyres but never got to use them. On the positive side, the car felt nice and consistent on old tyres this morning and initially this afternoon."

As a result of the two malfunctions, the team has lost valuable track time. They had planned to test new aerodynamic components today, and were unable to achieve all of their goals. Sauber is the only "bottom six" team opting not to run a third car on Fridays. A third car could have been used today to collect this data, and perhaps the team will reconsider their strategy for future races.

Team boss, Peter Sauber, echoed the frustration of his two drivers. "Neither driver was able to complete his planned programme today. Giancarlo was stopped this morning by an engine problem and this afternoon Felipe ran into electrical trouble. We used our remaining time on race preparation."

Sauber will have 90 minutes in two practice sessions tomorrow to try to make up lost ground before the all-important qualifying session.

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