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Robert Kubica Q&A
Robert Kubica wrapped up BMW Sauber’s pre-season testingprogramme on the final day at Barcelona, completing the team’s secondtrouble-free race simulation of the week to give it encouragementheading to Melbourne.
The Polish ace spoke to the squad’s press office followingThursday’s action to assess how the F1.09 has compared to its rivals’cars, give his verdict on the 2009 changes and look back on a busywinter.
Q: How has testing gone with the F1.09?
Robert Kubica: Winter testing is always important. This year it is even more important because of the drastic changes in the regulations.
It is hard to say if the direction is right because every teamstarts with a completely new package from zero. So there is a lot to doin testing.
For example, on the last day of the final pre-season test in Barcelona I covered more than twice the distance of a Grand Prix.
That is pretty demanding on the car and on the driver.
Neither the BMW Sauber F1.09 nor my body had a problem with that.
That shows my fitness training during the winter was as perfect as the work on the reliability of the car.
In addition to the race simulation, we evaluated a lot of differentsolutions for the mechanical set-up and the aero configuration of thecar.
We were able to make up some of the time we lost the week before inJerez due to the unfortunate weather. So overall it was a veryproductive test
Q: Will you miss having opportunities to test during the season? RK: “This is something I have mixed feelings about.On the one hand, I’m pleased that there will be a bit less travellingand I’ll maybe have more time for myself.
Having said that, over previous seasons testing has played a veryimportant role in pushing forward the development of the car andsetting it up for the next races.
I can’t be sure yet whether we will be able to be as effective during the testing permitted on Fridays of each race weekend.
Q: How do you see the various technical modifications for 2009?
RK: All in all, the F1.09 is totally different todrive compared with our 2008 car. The reduced aerodynamics make thecars have less downforce.
This will be counteracted partly by the slick tyres, which build upmuch more grip – particularly at the front axle – than the groovedtyres we’ve been using in the past few seasons.
This imbalance between the front and rear axle means the cars oversteer more.
Personally, I think this is quite fun, although I would prefer to have greater aerodynamic downforce.
I’ve got used to the larger front wing now. The tricky thing aboutit is that you can’t see its outer edges from the cockpit because theyare hidden by the front wheels.
I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the first corner at the Australian Grand Prix.
I can imagine that we will see a lot more damaged front wings than in the past when things get tight.
Regarding KERS, I have mixed feelings.
As I am a tall and relatively heavy person I have disadvantagesregarding the weight and consequently the weight distribution of thecar.
But on the other hand KERS could be a big advantage because of the boost.
Q: Will the new variables make the car more complicated to use for the driver?
RK: Not really. Using KERS and the adjustable front wing is not particularly difficult.
Once you’ve worked out where to use KERS to optimum effect at eachtrack and in which places you adjust the front wing, it happens prettymuch automatically.
Q: Do you think it will be easier to overtake this season?
RK: KERS definitely helps on a straight when you want to overtake somebody who doesn’t have the system.
I think the picture will not change dramatically.
But I really hope there will be more opportunities to overtake, because fans and drivers miss overtaking in Formula 1.
Q: Will the teams be more closely matched?
RK: It’s difficult to say.
There was very little between the top teams in testing.
Whether that will also be the case in qualifying will doubtlessdepend very much on how well the teams are able to prepare for eachrace track – and that’s become harder with the restrictions on testing.
When it comes to the races, a major factor will be how effectively the car and driver work with the tyres.
There is some uncertainty here as well; the new tyres mean we can only use data from the past to a limited degree.
Q: What is your aim for the 2009 season?
RK: To get 100 percent out of myself and the F1.09in every race. Only then we can have the chance to beat the other topteams and still be battling for the title in the final race of theseason.
Q: How do you think the BMW Sauber F1 Team is shaping up compared to its rivals?
RK: As always testing can only give you ideas on where you are. And it can also mislead you.
Our goal is to be best prepared for Australia. And I think we are on a good path.
But we have to wait until Melbourne to really see where we are.
The qualifying will give all the teams a first impression about the balance of power.
Q: How did you spend the winter?
RK: The winter was, as always, very relaxing after a long and exciting season.
As usual I prepared for the coming season, worked a lot on fitness and strength for another very demanding season.
Q: How did you focus your winter training?
RK: My overall fitness level was good so I concentrated on keeping this level for the new season.
A lot of drivers focused on losing weight because of KERS. From myexperience in 2008 I know where my limits are in this respect.
Q: What was your goal in setting up Robert Kubica Kart?
RK: I have been karting for many years and really enjoying it. Karting was my world.
Now being in Formula 1 I am just karting for fun as often as I can.
So my basic idea was to set up a karting team and develop my own brand.
Once it has started properly I am sure it will give me some satisfaction and also good results.
Q: Are you happy with the development of RK Kart?
RK: Yes, but we are still at a very early stage. Weworked a lot before we managed to get the homologation for our firstself-developed racing kart.
And we need to keep working to improve. I am pretty confident it will be a good project. |
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bmw.....
agak boring...
aku sedang menunggu bila la volkswagen nak masuk f1..
patut season ni VW dgn porsche tapi tarik diri sebab rules tah hapa hapa FIA |
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Reply #103 hyphrigian's post
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kalau ada banyak team kan best |
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Reply #103 hyphrigian's post
tu la aku pun tggu gak volkswagen masuk F1..
maybe thn depan kot lepas
krisis ekonomi global... pasal rules FIA tu alasan je... |
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Balas #105 akughi\ catat
depa kansel sebelum krisis ekonomi lagi laaaa....
banyak rules merapu.... |
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Reply #106 hyphrigian's post
ooooooooo ye ke....
aku tetinggal setahun...  |
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BMW confirms only Heidfeld to run KERS
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BMW yet to find ideal setup
The BMW team was lower down the order than expected in Friday's secondpractice for this weekend's Australian Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld wasthe quickest of the pairing in 14th position, 1.3 seconds off theleading pace, with team-mate Kubica right behind him. The white carswere mostly concentrating on developing the best setups possible forSunday's race.
Heidfeld, equiped with the new Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS),was optimistic following his day's running: "It was great fun to drivehere today, and was high time the season started. We had no technicalproblems and completed our entire programme, with the usual tyrecomparison and long runs. The Albert Park circuit isn't a permanentrace track and, therefore, naturally has a very low grip level at thebeginning of the race weekend. It improved a little during the twopractice sessions but even in the end it wasn't good."
Team Headof Engineering, Willy Rampf, reported no difficulties with the KERSdevice but did admit that the squad is not yet totally happy with itssetup work. "Overall we are lacking grip," drive Robert Kubicaconfirmed. "We have have to find out why."
yg pasti boleh kalahkan mclaren dan renault |
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Reply #110 weta_studio's post
hehehe
apa pun tengok ari ahad ni...
sapa yang dikalahkan
siapa yang makan asap
siapa yang kena sondol  |
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walaupun eksiden tapi aku berbangga ..
pasal byk kali kete bmw ni buat fastest lap..dua2 driver brawnGp agak struggle skit
cuma nasib je tak menyebelahi..
apapun boleh baiki lagi kereta bmw.. |
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Reply #113 weta_studio's post
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betul tu... yang ni gua setuju |
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tim ni takde kelab ke.aku nak signup..jadi no1 fan sejak zaman jean alesi |
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nape heidfeld nih drive cam lembap haa.dah tua ke |
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Balas #115 MetalFire\ catat
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ade..berlambak kat internet |
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Balas #116 MetalFire\ catat
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lembab pun boleh naik podium.. |
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engine BMW meletop2 mase sesi warmup...
kubica komplain... sat gi mase starting terus tak bergerak..
dah boleh gerak...
bari 1 lap dah kuar api |
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Author
Post time 24-3-2009 12:42 PM
