BMW Sauber F1 Team - Australian Grand Prix - Race,
Weather: dry and sunny, 21-22°C Air, 39-41°C Track
The BMW Sauber F1 Team started the 2007 season off in Melbourne
with fourth place for Nick Heidfeld. However, a gearbox problem
robbed the team of seeing both drivers in the points, as Robert
Kubica retired on lap 36 while lying in fourth place.
Nick Heidfeld: 4th
BMW Sauber F1.07-05 / BMW P86/7
Fastest Lap: 1.26.722 min on lap 37 (6th fastest overall)
"I had a very good start, which was an even better one
than Kimi and managed to pass Fernando. Of course I hoped
to stay in front of him, but realistically I knew the McLarens
were quicker than us. Thinking about how happy we are, you
should not forget where we came from as we started last season
eighth in the constructors' championship. Our pace is really
good and fourth is a super start to the season.
I feel very sorry for the team with Robert's retirement,
as he was also very strong. My tyre strategy to take the softer
ones first was riskier. I knew after the first stop there
was the danger of getting stuck in traffic, and this is what
happened, but I took the risk anyway. The race was a lot of
fun, but in the final laps I was a bit lonely. Mechanically
my car was perfect."
Robert Kubica: Retired
BMW Sauber F1.07-04 / BMW P86/7
Fastest Lap: 1.26.642 min on lap 19 (4th fastest overall)
"My pace was good but unfortunately we had a gearbox
problem. I was stuck in fifth gear and that was the end of
my race. The only good thing is we know what the problem is
and we now have to resolve it. In the race I was much heavier
than Nick and was able to match his speed. My strategy was
to attack towards the end of the race. My last stint was going
to be very short, so I would have had an even better performance
then, but unfortunately I didn't get that far."
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
"Nick drove a good race and his fourth has earned us
five points in the season curtain raiser. He was on soft tyres
for the first stint and we didn't think they would last very
long. In hindsight, we could have done a longer first stint.
Robert was strong and showing the same pace as Nick when his
gearbox stuck in fifth on lap 36.
Now we have to focus on getting our reliability sorted out.
The most important lesson today is we have been able to match
our testing performance. We have clearly been the third fastest
team, and that is a good baseline for the next races."
Willy Rampf (Technical Director):
"Nick's fourth place is a very good result and reflects
our qualifying performance, as we were the third quickest
team in that. We ran our cars on different strategies as the
new tyre regulation stipulates you have to use both compounds
in the race. Another reason was the new Safety Car rule which
says the pit lane will be closed until the cars are in their
proper order on the track.
You have to make sure you don't go into such a period with
the cars on the same pit stop strategy. Nick was on the softer
compound for the start and Robert would have used it at the
end, which obviously didn't happen. Both our drivers were
quick and strong."
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