17 qualifyings, 17 times in the top 10 for BMW
In a sudden change of weather conditions to hot and sunny, the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers qualified for the Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit with Nick Heidfeld sixth and Robert Kubica seventh. This result means in only the team's second season both cars have made it into the top ten in qualifying for every race.
Nick Heidfeld: "I'm extremely happy. My penultimate lap wasn't bad and the final one was simply great. In qualifying two I was close to missing the top ten, and this was because I had a big slide and almost spun in turn 6. Right up to the last session of qualifying I had the impression this time we might have gone in the wrong direction with the car's set-up. It would have been an exception because normally we are very good in this. In the end the car felt better again and I think the track conditions also helped."
Robert Kubica: "It could have been better, but unfortunately on the last lap I had Fernando Alonso in front of me. He let me by, but I had to take a different line which meant my tyres picked up dirt. In the last corner I was quicker but when braking I locked the front wheel, went straight and lost a lot of time. The race will certainly be hard for the tyre."
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director: "As in all 16 races before in the 2007 season we managed to get both cars into the top ten in qualifying. This is a strong and consistent performance, but we are not totally happy with today's result. Nick's lap times in the first two qualifying sessions weren't good, and he only just managed to get into Q3, but in this session with a very strong last lap he finished a very good sixth. With Robert it worked the other way round: In Q1 and Q2 he was fast and matching the front runners, but then in his decisive run in Q3 he lost seven tenths of a second in corner twelve and two possible grid positions."
Willy Rampf, Technical Director: "We are very happy that we made it into the top ten of qualifying for the 17th time in the 17th and final race of the season. The track conditions in the afternoon didn't compare to those from the morning, especially in terms of grip level and balance. Nick had a hard time in Q1 and Q2 until he found the right balance in Q3 and took sixth place. Robert had a strong Q1 and Q2, and was also good on the first two sectors of his fast lap in Q3 until he lost important fractions of a second due to an overtaking manoeuvre. However, qualifying positions six and seven should give us good chances in the race."
