By BMW Sauber F1 Team
June 15 2007

In the first free practice session for the US GP, held under blue skies, in warm conditions (27° C), the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers, Nick Heidfeld and Sebastian Vettel, confirmed the BMW Sauber F1.07's ever improving competitiveness by finishing second and fourth respectively. It was a promising session for the BMW Sauber F1 Team, with both Nick and Sebastian focusing on setup work and tyre evaluations but proving at the same time that the BMW Sauber F1.07 has what it takes to battle at the front end of the field at Indianapolis.

Nick was among the top three right from the start, and improved stint by stint. In his third stint, on the medium compound, he set a 1:12.801-minute lap to move up to second place. And on his fourth run - on the soft compound - he improved to 1:12.391 minutes, thus consolidating second place.

Sebastian, however, needed a few laps to learn the track but was soon able to set competitive lap times. The 19-year old German set his personal fastest lap time of 1:12.869 minutes on the first timed lap of his fourth stint on the soft compound, and on the following lap he crossed the line in 1:12.910 minutes, thus demonstrating that at the 'Indianapolis Motor Speedway' the performance level of softer compound doesn't decrease as quickly as usual.

The fastest lap time of the session (1:11.925 minutes) was set by McLaren's Fernando Alonso.

In the second free practice session, held from 14.00 to 15.30 hrs local time (19.00 to 20.30hrs BST), the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers will continue their preparations for the remainder of the weekend.