By BMW Sauber F1 Team
October 12 2008
In a thrilling Japanese Grand Prix, Robert finished second behind Fernando Alonso. Prior to the final two rounds of the season, the Pole lies just 12 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton. Nick Heidfeld also delivered in fine style but nevertheless had to settle for finishing tenth.
The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix proved to be a truly dramatic race. Robert
made a fantastic start from his sixth position on the grid and took the
lead as championship leader Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Ferrari's Kimi
Räikkönen dropped back while battling it out. A short time later,
Hamilton had a close encounter with his championship rival Felipe Massa
(Ferrari) and both title contenders dropped further back. Subsequently,
Hamilton received a drive-thru penalty for causing the first incident
and Massa another for having caused the second. From this point in
time, Massa and Hamilton had no real chance of getting involved in the
battle for top positions.
Meanwhile, Nick also made a good start. While Robert defended his lead
and even extended the gap over Alonso tenth by tenth, the German
quickly gained ground from his 16th position on the grid. During the
course of the first five laps he passed five drivers and held eleventh
place when crossing the line at the end of lap six.
Soon it became obvious that spectators at the Japanese GP would witness
many different strategies - from one stop strategies on the one hand,
to two stop strategies with early and late stops on the other.
Therefore, the race featured numerous race leaders and countless
changes of position.
Robert made his first pit stop on lap 18, one lap before Renault's
(then) second-place Fernando Alonso - and when the Spaniard rejoined
the race following his first stop, he had moved ahead of the BMW Sauber
F1 Team driver. Subsequently, Alonso was clearly quicker than Robert as
he was on a lighter fuel load than the latter. Consequently, he was
able to extend his lead to a margin that allowed him to stay ahead even
though he had to make his second stop on lap 43, four laps before
Robert.
Meanwhile, it had become obvious that Nick was on a one-stop strategy.
When the German came in for his only pit stop on lap 41, he did so from
10th position and rejoined in 11th, behind Red Bull Racing's Mark
Webber. During his second stint, however, Nick was unable to gain a lot
of ground and in the end had to settle for finishing tenth.
For Robert, however, the excitement wasn't over. Shortly after his
second pit stop, on lap 49, Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen closed in on the
Pole and started pressurising him massively. Lap after lap, the two
drivers delivered an enthralling battle for second position, with
Robert successfully fending off every effort by Räikkönen to pass him.
On lap 56, Renault's Nelson Piquet closed the gap to Räikkönen and from
this point in time the Ferrari driver opted to defend his third
position instead of continuing to battle it out for second.
At the end of the day, Robert secured a great second place, thus adding
another eight valuable World Championship points to his own and the
team's tallies. A result that has revived Robert's chances in the
battle for the drivers' title and also kept the BMW Sauber F1 Team's
chances in the Constructors' Championship alive, thus representing a
major boost for the entire Munich and Hinwil based squad. In next
weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, at Shanghai, Robert and Nick will both
give their very best in order to secure another fine result for their
team.