F1:Heidfeld flies for BMW at Bahrain

[Plex]

Testing continued at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit on February 23rd and Nick Heidfeld was the leader of the pack on the second day. The BMW Sauber man clocked 1:30.469 for well over half a second quicker than the McLaren of Fernando Alonso in second. Heidfeld carried out aerodynamic work and qualifying simulations.

BMW teammate Robert Kubica focused on set up on his first visit to Bahrain and after lunch both drivers went through a full race simulation, right down to the details of the installation lap and waiting on the grid. The pit crew was up to speed and the team was fortunate not to have any red flags during the 'race' time span.

"Today was a good day," said Heidfeld. "We did a race simulation which went problem free, which was very satisfying for us as last time we had some technical problems in the winter runs, but today went well and the speeds seemed good."

"We have three more days of testing here, one tomorrow then two days off and two more days after that. It is the most important test for us and for many I'm sure as it's the last big test before the start of the season. I'm really excited about the start of the season, it is very special to me the first race and also I enjoy Melbourne and at the moment the car is looking good."

Alonso, as already mentioned, was second fastest and McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton was fourth on the time sheet. They continued with signing off details of the MP4-22 and also evaluated the whole package in the good conditions. The pair are scheduled to continue on Saturday.

Jenson Button carried through Honda's performance from yesterday and was third fastest again, while Rubens Barrichello was ninth. At the time of writing no news was available from Honda about the day's programme but set up, aero work and tyres were the general schedule for this week.

After the Scuderia annexed the top of the times on day one, today Kimi Raikkonen was the lead Ferrari in sixth and Felipe Massa was eighth. They continued with their technical programme and worked on set up and electronics over long runs and both drivers completed over 70 laps each.

Test driver Nelson A. Piquet led the Renault duo in seventh and Heikki Kovalainen was 10th. They carried out endurance tests over race distances then moved on to set up and tyres. The day was problem free and despite the windy conditions both drivers completed their programmes.

"I started my proper test programme today as we worked on set-up changes," said Piquet. "We tested a number of different ideas, and we are making progress every day. Hopefully, we can carry on the same way tomorrow for my last day of running."

Mark Webber and David Coulthard were on duty for Red Bull again, 11th and 14th respectively, and Toro Rosso's Tonio Liuzzi was 15th. Anthony Davidson continued with Super Aguri's programme of set up and tyres and was 13th, although a mechanical failure bought his day to a premature end.

MotorSport

[Rory Phoulorie]

Personally, I think BMW made a mistake in dropping JV and that Heidfeld is overrated. JV was basically equal with Heidfeld in terms of speed during the short period when he was with BMW. Anyway, BMW kept him just because it would have cost them more to buy out his contract at the end of 2005 and they therefore jumped at the first opportunity that arose to get rid of him.

When you watch the races from 1996 and 1997, and to some extent 1998, you would see his true driving talent. Yes, the Williams was a good car in 1996 and 1997, but the same can be said of MS and Ferrari. MS' teammates do not get the better of him because of contractual stipulations. You could have put any idiot in a post 1999 pre 2006 Ferrari and he could have won the championship. The only true talent that MS has is his skill in the wet. However, his actions in 1994 and 1997 have forever tarnished his reputation as a great driver. Is he skilled? Yes, without a doubt. Can he be classed with the likes of Prost, Stewart, Clark, Lauda and Fangio? Hell no!

Sorry for my digression.