Australian Grand Prix – Race, Sunday – 16.03.08
Weather: dry, 37-38°C Air, 48-51°C Track Melbourne
(AUS).
The BMW Sauber F1 Team has achieved its fifth podium in its
short career. Nick Heidfeld came second at the Australian
Grand Prix. Team mate Robert Kubica, who had started from
second and lay in fifth position in the race, was unlucky
when another car crashed into the rear of the Pole’s
car at a restart.
Nick Heidfeld: 2nd BMW Sauber F1.08-04 /
BMW P86/8 Fastest Lap: 1.27.739 min on lap 41 (3rd fastest
overall) “This was a fantastic start to the season for
us. The team was working extremely hard to solve the problems
we had in the beginning with the F1.08. We made constant progress
and we have not exploited the full potential of the car yet.
At the start I had too much wheel spin and could not keep
Nico Rosberg behind me. I thought it is going to become a
difficult race because I expected him to pit earlier. But
we stopped on the same lap and our crew did a really great
job to get me in front of him. With my second pit stop I was
lucky that the safety car didn’t come out earlier and
I could refuel as planned. In the last stint I had to take
care not to kill the option tyres. Overall the first race
without traction control was less difficult than expected.“
Robert Kubica: DNF BMW Sauber F1.08-03 /
BMW P86/8 Fastest Lap: 1.28.753 min on lap 15 (9th fastest
overall) “My race went pretty well in the beginning.
I was on a similar strategy to Nick and I had a good pace.
Then the strategy was changed and this did not pay off for
me. I got stuck behind Bourdais and lost a lot of time. I
still had a chance to score some points, but then at the end
of the third safety car period Nakajima crashed into the rear
of my car and I had to stop.”
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): “This
was a fantastic start to the new season for the BMW Sauber
F1 Team. In a turbulent race with three safety car periods
and numerous retirements, Nick kept cool and finished second,
achieving the first podium of the season for the team. Only
Lewis Hamilton was quicker. This was a real strategy game.
Nick was somewhat lucky with the safety car periods, Robert
was unfortunately unlucky. Towards the end, Nakajima pushed
him off the track. Up to this point he had driven a strong
race after his fantastic qualifying yesterday. Together with
our qualifying performance on Saturday, this is a good basis
for the next races. This was a motivation boost for the whole
team. A big thank you to all our colleagues in Munich and
Hinwil.“
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): “This
was an exciting race which generated mixed feelings. It’s
fantastic that Nick clinched second place, but at the same
time I’m sorry for Robert who had an unlucky race. At
the start Nick was overtaken by Nico Rosberg, but thanks to
the fantastic work of the pit crew, he was able to overtake
him in the pits. From that moment on he drove a fast and consistent
pace. He finally benefitted from the third safety car period,
and equalled the best result of the team so far. We changed
Robert’s strategy during the second safety car period,
but unfortunately he got stuck behind Bourdais and lost a
lot of time. After Nakajima had crashed into the rear of his
car, he stopped for safety reasons.“
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