The BMW Sauber F1 Team has to cope with modest grid positions for the German Grand Prix. Robert Kubica qualified 7th, and after braking a little late, Nick Heidfeld missed to score within the top ten, resulting in position 12 in Hockenheim.

While all was running according to plan for Nick Heidfeld up to Q2, Kubica’s qualifying preparations were not at optimum. In the 3rd practice session, the Pole had to pull into the pits due to a problem with the driveshaft. Until qualifying the damage had been repaired.

Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.08-05 / BMW P86/8
Qualifying 7th, 1:16.521 min (3rd Practice: 20th, 1:17.469 min)
“The qualifying had some ups and downs. In Q1 one of the Force India cars blocked me on my quick lap. As a result, I only finished the session on position 14 and nearly did not make it to Q2. I was satisfied with Q2 but due to the additional fuel load in Q3 I faced some problems with the balance of the car. Let’s hope that good luck returns for tomorrow’s race.”

Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.08-07 / BMW P86/8
Qualifying 12th, 1:15.581 min (from Q2) (3rd Practice: 16th, 1:16.906 min)
“Of course position twelve is disappointing, especially since things were running well up to Q2. On my first run in Q2 I had some trouble in the last sector. It was then that the tyres started graining causing understeering. On my second run I messed it up on my own. I was a little late on the brakes before the hairpin, after the parabolika, the rear wheels locked massively and that was it. Now I will go fight for points in the race, that’s the minimum target. As we are out of the top ten we can freely choose the fuel load for the start. We will work on a good strategy. Also overtaking is not impossible in Hockenheim.”

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
“Obviously we expected more from qualifying. Both our drivers had not been happy with their cars in the free practice. In addition to this, we faced further incidents. In the first part of qualifying Robert got stuck behind a car. Nick spun off in the second part of qualifying which may have cost him Q3. From the given positions it will not be an easy race for us. The weather predictions are unstable. In our situation a wet race would certainly help.”

Willy Rampf (Technical Director):
“Without a doubt we expected more from this qualifying. Nick was struggling on his second fast lap in Q2 and therefore didn't make the cut. In Q3 we knew that the top cars were out of reach for us and that it would be tight for Robert to beat Fernando Alonso, but Jarno Trulli was a real surprise to us. Starting from P7 and P12 it will definitely no be an easy race.”