BMW expects difficult race after disappointing qualifying session

For the Turkish Grand Prix both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers have again made it into the top ten qualifying session. For Robert Kubica this was for the 23rd consecutive time, while for Nick Heidfeld it was the 28th time in a row. In Istanbul Kubica qualified fifth and Heidfeld ninth – therefore the aim of both of them is to pick up positions in the race.

Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.08-03 / BMW P86/8
Qualifying 5th, 1:28.390 min (3rd practice: 16th, 1:27.971 min)
“I am quite happy with my qualifying result and hope for a good race. We were expecting a little bit more after finishing P2 in the second qualifying session, but after refuelling the balance of the car was not good in a few corners and it became difficult to drive. With the high fuel load we picked up a lot of understeer. We shall now analyse the data and try to understand why.”

Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.08-05 / BMW P86/8
Qualifying 9th, 1:28.882 min (3rd practice: 19th, 1:28.655 min)
“Of course I’m not happy with P9, but I can also see something positive in today’s qualifying – it went much better than practice did. The sun came out and this helped me to heat up the tyres. My very last lap was actually really good until the final sector when I made a mistake which cost me about three tenths of a second. I think I can move up the field in the race.”

Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director: “We are not satisfied with the qualifying result. While Robert was pretty quick in Q2 with low fuel, the third and crucial qualifying session did not go perfectly for him. Nick was on his last quick lap, and just as fast as Robert in the first and second sector, but then lost time in the final sector. I think the tyres have been the deciding factor today. During qualifying, depending on the fuel loads, we saw very different tyre performances.”

Willy Rampf, Technical Director: “Let’s start with the positive things: on this demanding track we were able to get both our drivers in the top ten of qualifying. But we really expected more after the good performance in the second part of qualifying. Robert did not get a perfect lap, and Nick lost about half a second in the final sector of his fast lap. We expect a difficult race tomorrow.”