BMW Sauber achieve goal to score point at Valencia
One championship point ended a three race dry spell for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Robert Kubica came eighth at the European Grand Prix in Valencia and scored the first point since the Turkish Grand Prix. His team mate Nick Heidfeld made a good start but then got stuck in traffic. He finished 11th which was also his grid position.
Robert Kubica: 8th
BMW Sauber F1.09-08 / BMW P86/9
Fastest lap 1:39.374 min on lap 55 (8th fastest overall)
“I had to start the race from a very bad position as I was in the middle of the pack and we were all very close together in the first corners. Unfortunately I was not able to make up positions at the start, and I even lost a place to Nick. But then during the race my pace was good. Although my stints were shorter, I was even able to overtake Mark Webber during his final pit stop, which was very good.”
Nick Heidfeld: 11th
BMW Sauber F1.09-07 / BMW P86/9
Fastest lap 1:39.704 min on lap 53 (13th fastest overall)
“For me the result is rather disappointing because it doesn’t reflect what I was able to achieve today. After a good start I was able to match the pace of the guys in front of me, but I let Robert by because he was on a lower fuel load. Then I had to defend my position against Adrian Sutil and lost contact with the front group. This turned out to be crucial, because after his pit stop Heikki Kovalainen came out in front of me and I could not take any advantage from my car being lighter at this stage.”
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director: “Despite being in a very difficult situation with BMW pulling out of the sport, the team really did a very good job all weekend. Starting tenth and 11th on the grid was already a big improvement compared to the previous races. In the race Robert was able to move up to eighth and score a point. Actually Nick had the better chances to make his way up to the front from 11th on the grid because of the strategy he was able to choose. But he got stuck in traffic and therefore couldn´t demonstrate what he was capable of. The result gives us a boost for the next races and the development packages planned up to the end of the season.”
Willy Rampf, Head of Engineering: “Our goal was to get at least one point in Valencia. We achieved that. Compliments to the whole team for the effort. The new aero package is clearly progress. We did not have any problems during the race. Unfortunately Nick and, also during some periods, Robert got stuck in traffic and therefore lost valuable time. Our race pace without traffic was as expected."
