Report: Double Engine Failure for BMW Sauber

The Malaysian Grand Prix for BMW Sauber was extremely brief; while Kobayashi managed to complete nine laps of the race, De la Rosa didn’t even start, abandoning his car on the formation lap.

Despite interesting grid positions – with Kobayashi appearing in the top 10 for the first time – it was the Ferrari engines powering the cars that failed for both drivers and caused their retirement.

Kamui Kobayashi – Retirement:

The retirement came as a total surprise to me. After turn 1, I suddenly lost all power. It’s really unlucky. Today I was in a good position to fight for points, even though I lost two positions at the start when Rubens Barrichello didn’t move right in front of me when the lights went out. It’s really a shame to retire from this race, but now we have to focus on the next one in China and do better.

Pedro De la Rosa – Abandon:

Obviously, it’s very disappointing not to have raced in this event. This Grand Prix is one you prepare for all year because of the physical challenges, and you really want to drive in it. The breakdown we experienced was unusual, unexpected, and unlucky.

Willy Rampf – Technical Director:

A very disappointing race after securing promising grid positions. Pedro was forced to stop during his grid formation lap, and Kamui, who started 9th, had to retire on the 9th lap. In both cases, the engines failed due to problems with the pneumatic system. We must analyze everything to understand the reason for this.