Strong qualifying performance of BMW
The BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, will start the European Grand Prix from fourth and fifth on the grid following a delayed qualifying session. Due to an accident involving Lewis Hamilton 5mins 13secs before the end of the third qualifying sector the interruption was for more than half an hour. The team was pleased to hear from initial reports that Hamilton was okay.
Nick Heidfeld: BMW Sauber F1.07-05/BMW P86/7 Qualifying: 4th, 1.31.840 min (3rd Practice: 7th, 1.32.581min) “It was a dramatic qualifying. I was relieved when I saw Lewis waving his hand and I hope he is ok. After he retired fourth position was my goal. I got there and my lap was good. But still it is a bit annoying to see the gap to second place was only one tenth of a second. Again I enjoyed the competition with Robert a lot. I wouldn’t have complained if the session had been stopped instead of interrupted! First of all because I was third at this stage, and second because I would have been able to fly home half an hour earlier. Apart from qualifying I am incredibly happy today because this morning at 5:24am I became a father for the second time. I can’t wait to put my arms around my girlfriend, Patricia, our daughter, Juni, and our new born son, Joda. Of course I will be back tomorrow morning and am looking forward to my home race.”
Robert Kubica: BMW Sauber F1.07-03/BMW P86/7 Qualifying: 5th, 1.32.123 min (3rd Practice: 4th, 1.32.039min) “The most important thing is that Lewis is okay. Qualifying was good for myself and the team, but I think we are in better shape for the race. Of course the accident to Lewis and the red flag stoppage didn’t help, but we have taken an advantage because of this. It will be difficult to fight against Ferrari and McLaren, but the pace of our long runs has been quite good. Let’s hope tomorrow will be dry as I think we are in a good shape.” Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): “We are obviously very relieved the news is Lewis was not seriously hurt in his accident. Qualifying went very well for us, and we were very close to the front row. In the end Nick missed second place on the grid by just one tenth of a second. But we are very satisfied with grid positions four and five. This is an excellent position for our home race. Nick now has a half day off. He is able to fly home and hold his new son Joda in his arms, of course he will be back tomorrow morning.”
Willy Rampf, Technical Director “The most important thing this afternoon is the fact, according to early information, Lewis Hamilton escaped his heavy crash without any injuries. I'm happy with our performance. This was the tenth time in a row that we managed to bring both our cars into Quali 3 - we can be proud of this. Of course, it's a shame Nick missed P2 by just one tenth of a second, but positions four and five are very good and put us in a strong position for the race. In addition, it's positive that the gap to the cars behind us is quite big. So far, we enjoyed an absolute trouble-free weekend which gives us all reason to hope for a strong race."
