Wind blows BMW off course at Valencia

Blustery conditions disrupted BMW Sauber’s testing schedule for the second day running in Valencia on Friday, when Nick Heidfeld got his first opportunity to sample the new F1.09.

With gusty winds topping 30mph, the team had to switch its focus from set-up to reliability work in the morning, as it had been forced to do the previous afternoon when Robert Kubica was at the wheel.

Heidfeld was reassured to find that the car responded to set-up changes as expected.

“Finally I could drive the F1.09 for the very first time," he said after completing 92 laps. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are making progress with each kilometer and the reliability is already there. Overall the F1.09 handles quite differently to last year’s car. Fortunately I managed to work on the set-up in the afternoon. The most important result after my first day of testing is that the car reacts as intended to set-up changes."