BMW duo surprised by lack of pace

The Canadian, whose team performed strongly in the previous race in Australia with a double points finish, could only fight in the middle of the pack during the Imola race, having to settle for 12th place.

Villeneuve admitted he was expecting more from the weekend.

"It was not that exciting because I had a problem in the first pitstop. We were not as competitive as we expected," admitted the Canadian. "However, the balance was good and with this we should have been able to do some quick laps. The start was bad but then the first corner was okay.

"For the next race we have a new engine and that should help a lot, which is important as we are racing in Germany."

BMW's poor weekend was completed by Nick Heidfeld 13th position.

Like his teammate, Heidfeld said he was expecting their race pace to be stronger.

"This was a disappointing race for us especially as I had expected our race pace to be higher. But unfortunately this was not the case," Heidfeld said.

"My start was okay but still I couldn't gain positions. One of my main problems was lack of grip, but at the second pit stop we changed the front wing settings and the tyre pressures so the last stint was a little bit better."