Heidfeld disappointed with 9th

The BMW Sauber Formla One Team drivers, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld, qualified fourth and ninth respectively for the curtain raiser to the European season at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona.

Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.08-03 / BMW P86/8
Qualifying 4th, 1:22.065 min (3rd practice: 4th, 1:21.717 min)
“This was a good qualifying. I am very happy as I managed to do a very quick lap in both Q2 and Q3. I am especially happy about the second qualifying session as I was second fastest thanks to using only one set of tyres. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s race, and I think our pace is good.”

Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.08-04 / BMW P86/8
Qualifying 9th, 1:22.542 min (3rd practice: 1st, 1:21.269 min)
“I’m certainly not happy with P9. The first outing in top ten qualifying was reasonable, but my final lap was not good enough. It didn’t help that I had graining towards the end of the lap. I very much hope I shall have a better start tomorrow than we have seen for the previous races so far this year. For me here Ferrari is as strong as expected, Renault is apparently stronger than expected, although we may guess Fernando Alonso didn’t have a lot of fuel on board.”

Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director: “Robert managed to do a good lap and got the maximum out of the car. I consider his fourth on the grid very good. Nick did not have a good lap, as we expected him to be a bit nearer the front. Anyway, since the 2006 Brazilian GP in Sao Paulo we have been able to get both our cars into the top ten in qualifying.“

Willy Rampf, Technical Director: "We had an absolutely trouble-free weekend so far. Robert showed a strong performance in qualifying and was able to get the grid position we expected based on his strategy. He is in a good position for the race. Nick struggled to find a good set-up that was right for him on a single quick lap. However, he has a good strategy for the race. It will be crucial for him to make a good start and not loose too much time in traffic."