BMW drivers collect valuable points at Turkey
For the seventh time this season and the fifth time in a row the BMW Sauber F1 Team finished with both cars in the points. Nick Heidfeld was fourth in the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul and Robert Kubica eighth.
Nick Heidfeld: 4th BMW Sauber F1.07-08/BMW P86/7 (T-car F1.07.04) Fastest Lap: 1.28.319 min on lap 39 (5th fastest overall) “I am very happy about this result, as the team did a fantastic job. The race strategy, the tyre choice and the pit stops – everything worked perfectly. We made the most out of everything. The start especially was great fun. As the lights went out it wasn’t so good, because I was on the dirty side, but then I was able to overtake the others on the outside. I was braking very late for turn one and, once again, I came very close to Fernando Alonso. Of course I dreamt I could keep him behind me over the distance, but we knew he would refuel later than me. After the stop he was in front of me and he was also faster. I pushed very hard for the whole race, and only in the very last laps I felt a little less pressure.”
Robert Kubica: 8th BMW Sauber F1.07-03/BMW P86/7 Fastest Lap: 1.28.918 min on lap 11 (11th fastest overall) “It was a very hard race and I just hadn’t got enough speed. Also when I was lighter in the first stint I could not build up a big enough gap. Every time I pitted someone was overtaking me. I did not have enough speed throughout the whole race, and this also meant I was not able to overtake. I suppose my problems were a bit of everything and I just found the car difficult to drive.”
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director: “For our team it was a mixed result. For Nick our strategy worked. Without technical problems and without a slower car in front of him he was able to run his race as planned. For Robert we decided before qualifying to try a different strategy. We wanted to give him the chance with a short first stint and soft tyres to attack the front runners, but soon after qualifying we figured out, even with a lower fuel load, the expected times would not be possible. Beside that, in the race he was unlucky both times when he came out after his pit stops - the first time he was right behind Heikki Kovalainen and the second Nico Rosberg. Six points for our team is good.”
Willy Rampf,Technical Director: “It is good to collect another six points, but actually we expected a bit more. For Robert our aggressive strategy didn’t work but, if you consider our situation in the Constructors’ World Championship, you have to take a risk from time to time. Nick had a good start although he was on the dirty side of the track. He was consistently fast, fulfilled our expectations and took our ‘reserved’ fourth place. After this hot race we are looking forward to the Italian Grand Prix on the high speed Monza track.”
