Saturday – BMW saves face among the ‘big teams’

Of those who fought for the 2008 title, the BMW-Sauber team is one of the best positioned on the eve of Sunday’s race. And for good reason, Robert Kubica will be lurking behind the Brawn GP front row in 4th position.

His teammate, Nick Heidfeld, had a bit more difficulty as he will only start from 11th place, right in the middle of the pack. The latter could benefit from an advantage during the race with his KERS or Kinetic Energy Recovery System.

Robert Kubica – 9th and 4th:

« I am very happy with the fourth place on the grid. Looking closely at the practice sessions over the weekend, that’s what we expected. We have made progress with the car as I was able to do good laps. In particular, the one in Q2 was very good. »

Unfortunately, during my second attempt in Q3, Nico Rosberg was in front of me at turn 14 and he put some dust on the track. As a result, the tires lost a bit of their grip on that last lap. I could have finished third, but I am still satisfied with my performance.

Nick Heidfeld – 10th and 9th (qualified 11th):

« We improved the car during each session. Also, my last lap in Q2 was good until the last sector with the last corner where I had too much oversteer. Eleventh place is certainly not what I was aiming for after winter testing, but at least it’s an advantage over tenth because I am now free to choose my fuel load. »

« I hope that during the race, using the KERS will be a small advantage right after the start, even if the straight before the first corner is not very long. »

Mario Theissen – BMW Motorsport Director:

Robert had fantastic qualifying sessions. Fourth place on the grid is what we aimed for after the free practice sessions. Unfortunately for Nick, he just missed making it to Q3. However, this position gives us more possibilities in terms of race strategy. Both cars have no technical issues. Besides that, our new team did an excellent job.