Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying,
Weather: Dry, 20-25°C Air, 30-39°C Track
The BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld,
qualified fourth and ninth respectively for the curtain raiser
to the European season in Barcelona.
Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.08-03 / BMW P86/8
Qualifying 4th, 1:22.065 min (3rd practice: 4th, 1:21.717
min) “This was a good qualifying. I am very happy as
I managed to do a very quick lap in both Q2 and Q3. I am especially
happy about the second qualifying session as I was second
fastest thanks to using only one set of tyres. I am looking
forward to tomorrow’s race, and I think our pace is
good.”
Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.08-04 / BMW P86/8
Qualifying 9th, 1:22.542 min (3rd practice: 1st, 1:21.269
min) “I’m certainly not happy with P9. The first
outing in top ten qualifying was reasonable, but my final
lap was not good enough. It didn’t help that I had graining
towards the end of the lap. I very much hope I shall have
a better start tomorrow than we have seen for the previous
races so far this year. For me here Ferrari is as strong as
expected, Renault is apparently stronger than expected, although
we may guess Fernando Alonso didn’t have a lot of fuel
on board.”
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
“Robert managed to do a good lap and got the maximum
out of the car. I consider his fourth on the grid very good.
Nick did not have a good lap, as we expected him to be a bit
nearer the front. Anyway, since the 2006 Brazilian GP in Sao
Paulo we have been able to get both our cars into the top
ten in qualifying.“ Willy Rampf (Technical Director):
"We had an absolutely trouble-free weekend so far. Robert
showed a strong performance in qualifying and was able to
get the grid position we expected based on his strategy. He
is in a good position for the race. Nick struggled to find
a good set-up that was right for him on a single quick lap.
However, he has a good strategy for the race. It will be crucial
for him to make a good start and not loose too much time in
traffic."
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