BMW WilliamsF1’s journey through the 2005 championship season continues with part two, Europe to Germany....

European GP

There were further successes to come: on the Nürburgring Heidfeld claimed the first pole position of his F1 career and on Sunday took to the podium as runner-up for the second time in succession. But the joy was dampened by Webber’s premature retirement in the first turn. After a bad start from third on the grid, he had collided with Montoya. Starting with the Nürburgring race, Sunday morning’s second timed lap had been abolished. In what was now a single qualifying lap on Saturday, Webber came third. He was lined up for a two-stop strategy. Heidfeld driving in a lighter car (on a three-stopper) snatched pole position ahead of Raikkonen.

In the race Heidfeld stayed glued to Raikkonen’s tail up until his early pit stop on lap 12 out of 60. Following that he was fourth and remained so after his second stop. He gained a position when Barrichello (the only rival on a three-stopper) went in for refuelling. After his third pit stop Heidfeld was still in third place. He inherited second place when Raikkonen lost his right front wheel while in the lead on lap 59. Heidfeld had run another flawless race. The bold strategy had paid off and the harder Michelin tyre compound had once again proved the right choice. The trend continued to point upwards.

Canadian GP

Though Montreal is not in the tropics, the weather might have had one believe otherwise. On Sunday the barometer indicated more than 30 degrees Celsius and extremely high humidity. The team had not reckoned with that. For extended periods the BMW engines were running above healthy temperatures. The tyres, on the other hand, could not be brought up to operating temperature on just one fast lap. Both drivers struggled with these circumstances during qualifying. With their cars proving very difficult to handle, they made mistakes and ended up 13th (Heidfeld) and 14th (Webber) on the grid.

At the start of the race Heidfeld managed to surge into tenth place behind Massa and stayed there, which forced engine temperatures into the danger zone. If Heidfeld had eased off, he would have been trounced by Ralf Schumacher. 43 laps later his engine had literally burnt out and Heidfeld had to retire from seventh place. Webber had carved his way up into ninth place when he outbraked himself, allowing three rivals past. It was a GP littered with retirements. The team smartly used a safety car phase on lap 47 to bring forward Webber’s second pit stop. Following that he was temporarily in fourth place, but lost two places when the race reopened. As a precaution, his engine power was also turned down. With seven laps to go, Trulli’s retirement swept Webber into fifth place.

USGP

The 2005 US GP entered the history books as a “fiasco” among other scathing epithets. Only six cars had taken part, namely the Bridgestone customers. None of the seven teams on Michelin runners were able to compete because the tyre manufacturer could not guarantee the safety of its product in the banked turn of the Indianapolis Speedway. On Friday, the left rear tyre on two Toyota cars had burst. In Saturday morning’s third free practice session, all the Michelin-shod cars drove through pit lane instead of the banking.

For the fourth practice session Michelin allowed a few complete laps with a number of provisos, and in qualifying the tyre pressure had to be raised. That meant the set-up was no longer appropriate. Webber took ninth place on the grid and Heidfeld 15th. Whether and how, under these circumstances, a race could be run was the subject of heated discussion in several committees. There was no solution that would have guaranteed safety as well as adhering to the regulations. The result was an angry crowd of spectators, compensation claims and the only win of the season for title defender Michael Schumacher on Ferrari.

French GP

For the tenth of 19 GPs, WilliamsF1 presented a car with more aerodynamic modifications. Great hopes were invested in the new aero-package, but the results were sobering: Webber and Heidfeld finished twelfth and 14th in Magny-Cours. The race was as disappointing as qualifying had been, where Webber and Heidfeld had come 13th and 14th.

They were of an opinion that the new car handled well but was too slow – despite a three-stop strategy and correspondingly low weight. Plenty went amiss in the race, with Heidfeld having to pit six times. He finally crossed the finish line four laps behind and headed straight home – in time for the birth of his first daughter. Webber, who had been lapped twice, was also in a hurry. He hobbled into the medical centre with an open burn on his hip caused by hot air penetrating the cockpit. During his pit stops the team tried to provide relief by pouring water into the cockpit. Ten days earlier, on 22nd June, BMW had announced in Munich that it would be taking over the Sauber team.

British GP

Six times in the 2005 season, Formula One had to contend with back-to back GPs without a race-free weekend in between. Between the races in France and England there was similarly no time for problem-solving. In the BMW WilliamsF1 Team garage a variety of front wings and a long list of set-up variations were lined up. During Friday’s practice sessions Webber and Heidfeld failed to make it into the top ten.

On Saturday two different cars rolled out of the pits: Heidfeld’s FW27 had largely been readjusted to the pre Magny-Cours specifications while Webber continued to drive the new “MK II” body. The British Grand Prix would be a comparative test. Both drivers had to pay for their mediocre performance in France with early starts in qualifying. Webber was twelfth, Heidfeld 14th. Webber crossed the line in eleventh place, Heidfeld in twelfth. The new aero-package proved it still required further work in order to be competitive on track so work at Grove continued tirelessly to this effect.

German GP

At last the MK II bodywork had been put through its paces in test conditions – over three days in Jerez (where on 13th/14th July the V8 engine for 2006 was also tested for the first time). In qualifying at the BMW home event in Hockenheim things were beginning to look up: Webber came sixth, Heidfeld seventh. The lap times were partly accounted for by relatively low vehicle weight – the team had opted for three-stoppers – but were nevertheless encouraging.

Heidfeld made progress at the start of the race and was in a good fifth position until his first pit stop. Then he got caught up amid a group of two-stoppers. This hampered his progress and, to compound the situation, the balance of his car deteriorated as well. After his second stop he had dropped back to eleventh place, and that is how things remained after the third stop as well.

For Webber the race was more or less over in the first corner, where he collided with Sato after the start and damaged his rear wheel suspension. After a lengthy repair stop the Australian was left lagging by eleven laps. He was last to cross the finishing line twelve laps down and was not classified, with the current qualifying system, however, it was always important to continue in the race.

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