The Sauber F1 Team had a busy but smooth start to the German Grand Prix weekend at the Nürburgring. In the morning's first free practice session Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi were busy with aerodynamic tests, and only used the harder of the two tyre compounds. They were 16th and 19th respectively. In the second session they worked with the various tyre compounds and finished 13th and 16th respectively. The longer runs looked fine, but both drivers had difficulties putting in good times on single laps.

Sergio Perez: "Today was very busy. In the first session we did some aero tests, and only in the second session worked with the different tyres. We are not as competitive yet as we thought we would be here, but we did a reasonable job today and hopefully in qualifying we can aim for higher positions."

Kamui Kobayashi: "It was not so easy today. We went through our programme with no problems, but overall we are struggling with grip and don't understand why yet. We are not yet as good as we expected we would be, and have to improve for tomorrow."

James Key, Technical Director: "In the morning session both cars did a round testing aero items. We were looking at various new parts and did no real set up work in that session. In the afternoon we concentrated on the tyres available. We ran the test tyre Pirelli provided, which was a soft compound, and it looked okay. We also ran the standard soft tyre for here, and did some race runs towards the end of the session. Generally it was a very productive day. Mainly we now need to work a little on getting the tyres to work in the colder temperatures."