Zoom Heidfeld battled with minor wing damage in the early stages of the British Grand Prix.

After the success of the 2008 championship season, BMW Sauber are struggling this year. Following a disappointing British Grand Prix in which Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished a lapped 13th and 15th, the Hinwil-based team are eighth in the constructors’ championship with the same number of points.

The German Grand Prix in three weeks is an important race for the team and Team Principal Mario Theissen has vowed to accelerate the development of the F1.09 challenger.

“For us the race reflects the performance we showed in yesterday’s qualifying,” Theissen stated. “Overall it was a disappointing weekend for our team. We will speed up our development programme. ”

The team of course has now dropped its KERS programme but Head of Engineering Willy Rampf explained that the major issue for the team at Silverstone was generating tyre temperature.

“In the race we were struggling to get the tyres into the window when they were working at their best," he said. "Both drivers complained about lack of grip on the hard compound. With the softer tyre, the pace was acceptable. But at the end of the day here the car was just not competitive. At the Nurburgring we will introduce the next aerodynamic update..”

Earl ALEXANDER
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