BMW WilliamsF1 Team-U.S. Grand Prix-Practice

USA Grand Prix  -  FREE PRACTICE                    27th September 2002

Weather:  Sunny, 24°C Air, 26° Track

In the first Free Practice sessions for the 2002 US Grand Prix in
Indianapolis, Ralf Schumacher completed 37 laps whereas team-mate Juan Pablo
Montoya could only achieve 26 laps due to an engine problem. The BMW
WilliamsF1 Team drivers finished respectively in 10th and 16th positions.

Ralf Schumacher: 10th
Chassis: FW24 06
Best time: 1.15,291 min
We have done a lot of work today. As usual on a Friday we were a bit
conservative and concentrated on race set-up instead of trying to get a good
time in. We think we have also made our tyre choice. The track was very
slippery, therefore several drivers spun. In the first hour, when the track
was still a bit damp in some places, I went off and slid backwards taking
off my rear wing in the process.

Juan Pablo Montoya: 16th
Chassis: FW24 04 (T-Car FW24 02)
Best time: 1.15,632 min
I was hoping for a better free practice session today, as a start to my US
GP weekend. The balance of my car is not still ideal but we have collected
valuable data to solve the problems. During the second session I felt my
engine was sounding strange so I went back to the pits. The team tried to
address the problem and then they let me out again to see if it had improved
but this wasn¹t the case so I had to pull aside on my out lap.

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):
We had a difficult day in terms of looking for the set-up for the race. We
made some progress but not enough so we have quite a bit of work to do for
Sunday. However we collected a lot of information and we know what the
problem with the balance of the car is. As usual on a Friday we tried
different downforce levels as well as the two types of tyre Michelin has
brought here. We are pretty sure which tyre we are going to use.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
Everything went according to plan with Ralf and we completed our scheduled
programme. Juan Pablo reported a strange noise in his engine during the
second session. We checked the data and we did a borescope examination,
which allowed us to examine every cylinder with a camera drill. We could not
find any anomalies and therefore Juan continued his training but the problem
was clearly still there and he had to switch off the engine.

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