BMW happy with 4th and 6th
The BMW Sauber F1 Team achieved good results in qualifying for the first ever night race in the history of Formula One. Ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix Robert Kubica qualified fourth in the heat of the night, while Nick Heidfeld was sixth.
Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.08-05 / BMW P86/8
Qualifying 4th, 1:45.779 min (3rd Practice: 7th, 1:45.425 min)
“My qualifying was quite ok. I’m happy with P4 but not with my final lap. I was struggling a little bit with the overall grip. In the last stint of Q3 I had hardly any grip in the first sector. I lost quite a lot of time there. Felipe Massa was in front of me on his out lap, perhaps the tyres didn’t reach the right temperature. However, the race will be a completely different story. It will be a very tough one. The track is very bumpy and very demanding. The tyre degradation will be a crucial factor.”
Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.08-07 / BMW P86/8
Qualifying 6th, 1:45.964 min (3rd Practice: 11th, 1:45.689 min)
“I’m quite happy as I had a good lap. Right from the first practice sessions on Friday we have made several changes and most of them were right. The car has improved and I have familiarised myself with this circuit and also improved. Tomorrow a good start will be crucial. Overtaking is extremely difficult here because the track is so narrow and off line dirty and even bumpier. This could become the most demanding Grand Prix of the year.”
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director: “That was a very good performance by both of our drivers under difficult conditions. We had to be prepared all the time for yellow flags out on the track. Apart from that it wasn’t obvious which tyre would be quicker. Because of that in Q1 and Q2 we went out twice and used both types of tyres. In the end Robert made it to P4 with the harder compound and Nick qualified sixth with the softer ones. We have very good grid positions to start the race from.”
Willy Rampf, Technical Director: “It was a very exciting qualifying, and with fourth and sixth we are well prepared for the race. Under these tricky conditions both drivers did a very good job to get a perfect lap. Even if overtaking will be quite difficult, we are expecting an exciting race tomorrow.”
