Report – Bad Luck Continues to Haunt BMW-Sauber

The drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica did not achieve the best possible results today at Suzuka. However, BMW still leaves Japan with three points. Nick Heidfeld spent most of the race in fourth place, but he was overtaken by Kimi Räikkönen due to a wheel nut problem during the second pit stop. Then the safety car made him lose another position, as Nico Rosberg was able to pit immediately and overtake the BMW driver. Nick Heidfeld finished in 6th place at the end. The driver Robert Kubica ended up just outside the points, in ninth place.

After putting a lot of pressure on Jenson Button to regain his place. The English driver had overtaken him at the beginning of the race, but the safety car allowed his lead to be reduced. The Polish driver could not overtake the Brawn driver due to a lack of straight-line speed. The BMW team hopes to have a bit more luck in Brazil in two weeks.

Nick Heidfeld – 6th:

« It was not our lucky day. I am very disappointed with this result. The 4th place was within our reach, but several things went wrong today, especially during the second stop when the nut on my right rear wheel got stuck. Certainly, I don’t want to complain. These things can happen, and generally, we have very good pit stops. That’s where I lost a position to Kimi. And when the safety car came out, I lost another place to Nico, who was lucky enough to refuel while the safety car was out. »

Robert Kubica – 9th:

The weekend was unlucky for me. Yesterday I wasn’t able to increase my pace due to the red and yellow flags. Today, I was stuck in traffic several times. Additionally, I lost a lot of time at the beginning of the race with a heavy car that was understeering. Once the car was lighter, I hit a good pace and was quite fast. I was then very unlucky with my first pit stop, as Kimi’s and Nick’s stops were in front of mine. This cost me time. I was really unlucky at my first stop because after Kimi and Nick were ahead of me, it made me lose time. After the safety car period, I was still in traffic. I was stuck behind Jenson and was faster than him in the corners, but I wasn’t able to overtake since we were lacking top speed on the straights.

Mario Theissen – Director of BMW Motorsport:

It was a good performance from us with a disappointing ending. Nick was quick and was on track to finish 4th. Then he lost a position during his second pit stop due to a wheel nut issue. He lost another place during the safety car period, when Nico Rosberg passed him after his pit stop. Finishing in ninth place, Robert missed the points by a narrow margin.

Willy Rampf – Director of Engineering:

Today it could have been possible for us to have both our drivers in the points. Nick was in fourth position for a long period. Until his second pit stop, which we carried out earlier because Kimi Räikkönen was right behind him, everything went according to our plan. However, during the pit stop, a problem occurred that cost us precious seconds. Consequently, Kimi was able to exit ahead. During the safety car period, Nick lost another place. Robert lost a position after the start, which he regained later in the race. But in the end, he was simply not fast enough to score a point.