09/09/2007
NEWS STORY
The BMW Sauber F1 Team seems to have subscribed for fourth place. In the Italian Grand Prix Nick Heidfeld achieved the team's eighth fourth place in 2007. He personally finished fourth for the fifth time this season. Despite a problem during his first pit stop, Robert Kubica was fifth in Monza, reaching 351.7 km/h, which was the fastest of any driver on the track today. It was the eighth time this season, and the sixth time in a row that the team has finished with both cars in the points.
Nick Heidfeld: My start, as such, wasn't bad, although Kimi's was even better. Before the first corner it was very busy in front of me, and in the second corner I was on the outside line and lost a position to Kimi there. Anyway, this would have happened sooner or later, because he only stopped once. The early safety car period helped all those who were on a one stop strategy or wanted to pit late. Part of our strategy was to gain advantage over the one-stoppers or late-stoppers during the first stint. This obviously didn't work out because of the safety car. Besides this, I had a very good race with perfect pit stops. Now we can start thinking about reaching the magic 100 constructors' points, which would be a great success in what is only our second season.
Robert Kubica: The race was okay for me. In the first laps when the car was lighter we were really quick, but I think we could have had a better performance when the car was heavy, so perhaps this is something we have to work on. For the pit stop I didn't arrive straight so the car slid down from the jack when the guys were changing the tyres. Then after the stop we couldn't get the jack out from under the front wing, so it cost me a lot of time, but fortunately in the end it didn't change anything for the team. After that first stop I was behind Heikki Kovalainen and it was not possible to stay closer than six or seven tenths, as any closer than that and I was losing downforce. After the second stop I was in front of him and then I had to get by Nico Rosberg. I had new tyres and a pretty light car, while because of his one stop strategy he was on old tyres, so I went very quickly out of Parabolica, which was not easy after you spend so much time behind someone. However, I braked much later and was able to get by.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): We finished the race with a very strong result, although not everything went according to plan. At Robert's first pit stop the car slid off the jack and we lost some seconds because of that. But Robert won his lost positions back by overtaking Heikki Kovalainen in the second stop and Nico Rosberg on the track. Nick's race was just perfect. Over a long stint he was able to do the same pace as Kimi Räikkönen. Positions four and five mean another nine points, which are well deserved.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): This was a truly exciting race for our team. Robert's first pit stop went wrong because he stopped the car at an angle. Therefore, it fell from the jack. This cost him a lot of time and gave Heikki Kovalainen the opportunity to pass him. On the track Robert then also lost a lot of time behind the Finn, and he was only able to overtake him at the second pit stop. However, he then passed Nico Rosberg when braking into the first chicane, which was first class! He made use of the better grip of the new tyres. He showed a lot of fighting spirit today and was rewarded with fifth place. Nick's race went according to plan. He was able to drive at his own rhythm, didn't make any mistakes, as usual, and finished in a safe fourth place. Once more this was a strong result for our team.
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