BMW Sauber has confirmed reports that it is set to join next week's Bahrain tests.

The Hinwil-based team had been scheduled to follow the majority of teams to Jerez in Spain, but following the recently affected Portimao session, more bad weather is expected in Europe in the coming days.

Ferrari and Toyota will also be in Bahrain, where eight days of running will be split into two tests at the Sakhir circuit between February 10-13 and 16-19, according to the local newspaper Gulf Daily News.

BMW's full complement of drivers will be on duty, after the newly unveiled F1.09 proved reliable at its first test in Valencia.

"From now, we will concentrate mainly on performance," a spokesman said.

Despite the expense of long-haul testing, the BMW official confirmed that the search for dry and warm weather is the reason for the Bahrain switch.


"Particularly, the track temperatures are extremely important," he said. "They were too low in Europe during the last test, and we hope that they will be significantly higher in Bahrain. This is the basis to get valid tyre data for the first races, which will all take place in hot conditions."

It is understood that Toyota and Ferrari will also deploy their race drivers for the test.

Source: GMM
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