Sauber Baffled by Lack of Speed

Team boss Peter Sauber was unable to explain his drivers' lack of pace in today's free practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa circuit.

Brazilian Felipe Massa and German Nick Heidfeld were unhappy with the handling of their Petronas-powered cars, both claiming the C21 was too nervous around the fast Belgian circuit.

Rookie Massa, who will not be racing for the team next year after it was announced that he would be replaced by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, was the fastest of the Sauber duo, finishing down in 17th place.

"I don't yet understand the problem we had with both cars today," said Sauber after the session. "Fortunately, on a high-speed circuit of this nature, even small changes can have a significant effect, but it is clear that we have a lot of work to do in order to identify what set-up changes we need to make to improve the situation tomorrow."

Heidfeld also struggled for pace at Spa, the young German posting a disappointing 19th quickest time, only ahead of Minardi's Mark Webber.

"The car was very nervous today, but at least it was reliable," Heidfeld said. "I had some traffic on my quickest lap, but to be honest I don't think it made a great deal of difference."