We'll have one or two new parts on the F1.07 - Rampf

In just a few hours, the 2007 Formula One season kicks off with the first free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix. Willy Rampf, the BMW Sauber F1 Team's Technical Director, looks forward to the race at the Albert Park and talks about the season opener in Melbourne.

"The tension ahead of the first race of the season is always particularly high because you're waiting to find out how you shape up against your rivals," admits Rampf. "The recent tests in Bahrain demonstrated that the performance of the F1.07 meets our expectations, nevertheless, we will only be able to make an assessment of our progress in Melbourne. I have to admit that my sense of anticipation is even greater than usual."

Part of the 'Albert Park Circuit' is usually used for the day-to-day traffic and this might represent a particular difficulty when Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel attempt to set fast lap times in the early stages of the GP weekend. Rampf explains: "A typical feature of Albert Park is the fact that the track is still fairly dirty on the Friday and grip only really improves after a significant number of laps. Melbourne is a stop-start kind of circuit with high levels of downforce - and that places the brakes under serious loads. We will therefore focus heavily on braking stability when it comes to the car set-up. We will have one or two new parts on the car that haven't been used in the latest tests."