Sauber optimistic despite Friday chaos
Date published : 26 Mar 2010 - 09:33:38
The Sauber team is optimistic it will be in better shape in Melbourne even though it had a chaotic time in the opening Friday practice session.
Kamui Kobayashi caused two red flags during the morning - first when he smashed half his front wing on a marker cone at turn 11, leaving debris on the track, and then when his new front wing fell off on the approach to turn three when he tried to resume running.
The team subsequently discovered that the wing mounting, which was not replaced, had been damaged in the initial incident.
His team-mate Pedro de la Rosa also had a tough start to his weekend, stopping on track with a clutch issue in the first session.
But both managed a smooth afternoon, taking 12th and 13th places, and leaving de la Rosa upbeat.
"Generally the car feels better than in Bahrain, which is good news," said the Spaniard.
"Of course more running would have helped to improve the set-up, but I can't complain as I had some dry running.
Although technical director Willy Rampf admitted that the incidents and the afternoon rain had left Sauber behind schedule, he was still hopeful about the team's chances.
"Due to the mixed weather conditions in the second session we were not able to complete our programme," he said.
"However, I think we found a baseline for tomorrow.
Kobayashi also felt he had managed a fairly productive day despite all his dramas.
In the first session I came too close to that cone and hit it, and then I could not do any more running after I lost the new front wing," he said.
"Of course I would have liked to do more laps, but the rain in the second session did not help.
"However, I still got a good feeling for the track.
"We will now concentrate and work on improving the car, the main problem is an overall lack of grip.
