BMW Sauber F1 Team - Bahrain Grand Prix - Race
Weather: dry and sunny, 30-31°C Air, 32-34°C Track
In the third world championship round of the season the
BMW Sauber F1 Team equaled its best race result so far by
finishing fourth and sixth. Nick Heidfeld improved from fifth
on the grid to finish the race in fourth, and scored five
points for the team for the third consecutive race. Robert
Kubica finished sixth to collect his first points of the year.
The last time the team scored eight points in a race was in
the Australian Grand Prix in 2006.
Nick Heidfeld: 4th
BMW Sauber F1.07-05/BMW P86/7
Fastest Lap: 1.34.470 min on lap 38 (5th fastest overall)
"I feel fantastic. Currently I have a good car, a good
team, I can drive good races and I really enjoy this. Before
the race I didn't think I could overtake Fernando, but in
the second stint I was a bit quicker than him because I had
one more set of fresh tyres than him. On the other hand, Fernando
had the better top speed. I had to wait until he made a mistake,
which he did in corner 13. For the team it is extremely important
that both cars finished the race and scored points. I think
here we were even stronger than in Malaysia, which is surprising
as our car has not changed in the past week. Obviously the
track suited us and I had a very good set-up."
Robert Kubica: 6th
BMW Sauber F1.07-03/BMW P86/7
Fastest Lap: 1.34.819 min on lap 46 (6th fastest overall)
"All in all this has been a very positive weekend for
me and the team. This is my first time in the points this
season, so I am happy to finish, happy to score these points
and I know we will get there. Unfortunately the flap over
the fuel filler wouldn't close and you lose quite a lot of
downforce with this. I was losing time in the high speed corners
and under braking. It opened at the beginning of the race
and there was no way we could fix it. The good thing is the
pace is there, the reliability is almost there and so now
we will look forward to see what we can do in Barcelona."
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
"This was the strongest performance of the BMW Sauber
F1 Team so far. Not only did we score eight points, but Nick's
fourth place is really a special one. We were able to match
the pace of the top cars and Nick was even able to overtake
World Champion Fernando Alonso on the track. Unfortunately
an open fuel filler cover disturbed the aerodynamics of Robert's
car, but also for him I am very pleased he scored his first
points of the season. At the end of the day the third race
of the season was another step forward for the team."
Willy Rampf (Technical Director):
"This was the best race for our young team. Right from
the start we were able to match the pace of the top teams.
Nick's overtaking manouevre was, of course, a true highlight.
A big compliment to the entire crew here in Bahrain, especially
for the pit stops which were excellent. Also a big compliment
to the teams in Hinwil and Munich who gave us the equipment
to achieve such a strong performance."
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