BMW encouraged after F1.06 roll-out

Heidfeld took to the Valencia circuit early in the afternoon and completed 29 trouble-free laps to carry out system checks. He set a best time of 1:13.430.

The Valencia track record is 1:09.055, but today was the first time a V8-powered Formula One car tested there.

Heidfeld was encouraged by the initial performance of the car.

"I'm quite happy - this is one of the best roll-outs I've ever done," Heidfeld told autosport.com after the test.

"In F1 you say that already on the roll-out, you can [already] feel if the car is good or not. I've seen that being true in the past, and I would say that this is a good car compared to what we had before. I don't know how good it is, but I'm really happy with what we've seen today.

"We had no engine or mechanical problems. We did 29 laps, having only started at lunchtime, which is okay. And if you look at the laptimes, considering we didn't do anything on the set-up and did not push for any laptimes, it looks pretty good.

"The car should be mainly better in the aerodynamics, but from my feeling so far, it just seems to have so much more downforce. It is easy to drive everywhere - especially on the exit of corners."

BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen was equally enthusiastic.

"We're quite satisfied with the first day," he told autosport.com. "The new car ran flawlessly, and the only problems we've had were with radio and telemetry. The car itself was perfectly fine; the system checks are all done and are okay, and Nick was now gaining speed - getting quicker and quicker, lap by lap, so it looks good.

"I think it was a very good start."

Heidfeld's teammate Jacques Villeneuve also took to the track, but in the hybrid C24B. The Canadian, however, hit trouble at the start, when his car got stuck in first gear and his engine overheated in the pitlane.

The team sorted the problem out, and Villeneuve covered 50 laps with a best time of 1:14.037.

The BMW Sauber team will continue testing with both cars tomorrow.