FW: BMW WilliamsF1 Team - Malaysian GP - Preview

MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX  - 15/16/17 March 2002 - PREVIEW

After the mixed outcome of the Australian Grand Prix, the BMW WilliamsF1
Team travels to Malaysia's Sepang circuit in bullish mood. Drawing on the
experience of last season, the team failed to collect any points in the
opening race, but qualified on the front two rows of the grid in Malaysia
and Brazil, and is confident that the next two venues will favour the team.
Tyre performance will undoubtedly be critical to the race outcome, although
the humidity and potential for unexpected changes in local weather adds
another unpredictable dimension to the youngest Grand Prix on the Formula
One calendar.

Ralf Schumacher:
"I have already moved on from the accident at Melbourne, and worrying about
whose fault it was. I have determined this season to only look forward
without worrying about what has happened in the past, because it is
pointless. As a consequence, the pressure hasn't increased as far as I am
concerned; a season is 17 races long and nothing can be decided at the
start. What is much more important is that our car was very competitive in
Melbourne even with the pretty low temperatures there. And in Sepang it is
going to be much hotter and our Michelin tyre should provide a big advantage
over our competitors. There will also be a couple of changes to the car,
which make me really confident for the race."

Juan Pablo Montoya:
"Great circuit, I really enjoyed it a lot last year, even if I was a bit
disappointed at the end, because I could not finish the race. The Malaysian
Grand Prix is going to be interesting for us and I believe the BMW
WilliamsF1 Team package is going to perform pretty well there, and we are
looking quite strong. The car should be fairly good and in hotter conditions
the tyre should work a lot better than last week in Melbourne. Last year I
qualified eleventh in Melbourne and sixth in Malaysia, so I really think
we're going to show a lot more potential now.  With regards to the physical
conditions, it's going to be a very hard race for the drivers because of the
hot and humid climate.

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer):
"We are expecting Malaysia to be a good deal hotter than Australia with high
humidity levels as well. Kuala Lumpur is a challenging circuit with a lot of
direction changes through medium to high speed corners. There are also three
slow speed corners to deal with and four straight sections that reward
engine power.

"Changing weather last year made for an exciting race and this will be on
the cards again, prompting different strategies across the teams. Overtaking
is possible in three places here to add another variable to the outcome.

"Michelin have been hard at work and are bringing a new series of tyres
aimed at taking us another step forward. It will be interesting to judge
where we are performance-wise with much hotter ground temperatures."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director):
"The victory of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari in Melbourne wasn't a big
surprise to me. I always said that Ferrari will be the benchmark this year.
The situation reminds me of 2001 when Ferrari won the season's opening race
and was under pressure two weeks later in Malaysia. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team
has undertaken some testing recently, including trying a range of
modifications over race distances. I also expect that our package of
chassis, engine and tyres will profit from the high temperatures at Sepang,
and we will get close to the Ferraris. We should not read too much into the
results in Melbourne, and for sure, there will be races this season when
Ferrari are not dominant, and we should make the most of these opportunities
to win."

The Sepang Circuit:
Sepang is hosting a Grand Prix for only the fourth time in its short
history. The purpose built facility, located to the south of the capital
city of Kuala Lumpur, is 3.44 miles long, and will host 55 laps of Formula
One action commencing 1500hrs local, 0700 GMT.


                Ralf Schumacher                   Juan Pablo Montoya
DOB             30/06/75 - H¸rth (DEU)              20/09/75 - Bogota (COL)
Nationality     German                                  Colombian
Residence       Salzburg (AUT)                      Monte Carlo (MCO)
Marital status Married (Cora), son (David)  Engaged (Connie)
Height           1.78 m                                   1.68 m
Weight           73 kg                                     72 kg
F1 debut        1997, Melbourne                  2001, Melbourne
Poles             1                                             3
Wins    3, 2001 Imola, Montreal, Hockenheim        1, 2001 Monza
Points            135                                       37
Fastest laps  6                                            3