Polish Powers BMW at Malaysian F1 Grand Prix
In the humid heat of Sepang the BMW Sauber F1 Team scored 11 championship points – it was the best result for the young crew so far as they finished in the podium once again. This was the first time in team history that they finished on the podium in consecutive races. Polish native Robert Kubica’s was at the podium as he placed 2nd behind the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.
Thanks to a great performance, BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Robert Kubica secured second place in the Malaysian Grand Prix. His teammate, Nick Heidfeld, also delivered a flawless performance and added a further three points to the team’s tally by finishing sixth.
The Malaysian Grand Prix, round two in the 2008 Formula One World Championship, proved to be another successful race for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. By winning 11 points in the Malaysian heat, the team achieved the best overall result in its history.
Both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers made a good start. Robert passed Toyota’s Jarno Trulli on the inside while Nick truly rocketed away to pass both Robert and Trulli on the outside. Trulli, however, wasn’t ready to give in, and in the first corner he forced Nick off the ideal line. As a result, Nick dropped back to tenth position.
Robert, however, successfully defended his third place and quickly opened a gap over the drivers behind him: Mark Webber (Red Bull), McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren).
After the first set of pit stops, Robert continued in third position. But behind him, Kovalainen moved up to fourth place. Those who feared that the Finn might become a threat for Robert were soon proven wrong. The Pole was able to match the pace of the McLaren driver and even succeeded in extending his lead over Kovalainen.
When Ferrari’s Felipe Massa spun off the track and was left stranded in the gravel on lap 31, Robert moved up to second place. He continued his mature performance, made no mistakes and eventually crossed the line as runner-up.
Nick’s race, however, was a little more eventful. Following the first-corner incident, the German continued in tenth place but soon demonstrated that he was determined to battle his way back up the field. On lap five, he made a great move to pass both David Coulthard (Red Bull) and Renault’s Fernando Alonso at the same time, thus moving up to eighth position, just 2.3 seconds behind Kovalainen. Despite being one of the first drivers to come in for his first stop, he still held eighth position following the first round of pit stops. He followed seventh-placed Lewis Hamilton like a shadow and benefited from Massa’s retirement to gain another position.
During the second round of pit stops, the good strategy and great work of the BMW Sauber F1 Team pit crew helped him to move up another position. At the end of the day he finished sixth, thus scoring another three points for the Munich and Hinwil based squad. On the penultimate lap of the race, Nick lapped the 5.543-kilometre “Sepang International Circuit” in 1:35.366 minutes, thus setting the fastest race lap.
“This is a great start to the season,” said BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. “Having secured two runner-up finishes in the first two races is a really fine result. We have learned once again that grid positions are really important in today’s Formula One as overtaking is extremely difficult.”
More reactions:
Robert Kubica: “It’s a fantastic day for the team, for Petronas and for me – the second consecutive podium. After Monza 2006 I finally managed to get another podium myself. I want to thank everybody in the team who worked very hard over the last two months to improve the car. I didn’t have a good start because of too much wheel spin, and was fighting with Nick and Jarno Trulli. I took the dirty inside line and almost lost the car, but somehow I managed to get through the corner and overtake them. From this moment on I drove at my own pace. The Ferraris were too quick, but I was able to increase the gap from the cars following me. After the second pit stop I reduced the revs to save the engine and took it easy. I didn’t feel very well all weekend and it was very hot in the car, so the last ten laps were pretty tough. But it all paid off with a brilliant result.”
Nick Heidfeld: “I have mixed emotions about today’s race. Of course I’m happy to have clocked up my first fastest race lap in F1, and 11 points are also the best ever result for our team. The pace of the car was really, really good – about the same level as the McLaren. That’s all very positive and makes it even more disappointing that I only finished sixth. My start was very good and then I tried to overtake right on the outside in the first corner. Robert was on the inside, and Jarno Trulli was between us – I just ran out of room. It was a try, but it didn’t work out. I picked up some dirt and lost two more positions on the first lap. At least I got them back when I overtook David Coulthard and Fernando Alonso on lap four. Again our pit crew did a very good job.”
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): “This was another good performance for our team. Robert was able to establish himself behind the Ferrari right after the start. He drove a very strong race and claimed not only his second podium, but also his best result in F1. Nick had no luck in the first corner and lost some positions. I regard it as a success that he still managed to finish sixth and also clocked up the fastest race lap. Of course we are very pleased with the early days of the season – two podiums in two races, 19 nice points to our account and 11 points in one go is a new record for us. That’s all very positive and a good basis for the next races.”
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): “The second second place in a row, fastest race lap, thanks to Nick, and eleven points – we are very pleased how this season has started for us. It was another fantastic race for us. Only the Ferrari was faster than Robert today, and I am especially happy for him that all went so well after he had a lot of bad luck in Australia. While Robert was able to gain a place at the start, Nick unfortunately lost a few. Later he managed to come back and executed a very fine overtaking manoeuvre by catching two cars at once. We had no technical problems on either car, the performance was again very strong. Now highly motivated we fly back to Hinwil and Munich and look forward to the coming races.”
