By BMW Sauber F1 Team
October 14 2008
With Robert Kubica finishing second in Japan, the BMW Sauber F1 Team celebrated its 11th podium finish of the 2008 season. Thanks to this result, the Munich and Hinwil based squad still holds a promising position in the Constructors' Championship. Further facts...
- With 16 races contested, Robert lies just 12 points behind McLaren's
World Championship leader, Lewis Hamilton, and therefore has a chance
of winning the Drivers' Championship. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) is the
only other driver who can still secure the title.
- The BMW Sauber F1 Team is the only squad on the Formula One grid that
succeeded in scoring points in every single round of the 2008 season.
With 128 points to its tally, the team currently holds third position
behind Ferrari (142) and McLaren (135). A maximum of 36 points can be
scored in the final two rounds, to be held at Shanghai and Sao Paulo.
- At the Fuji Speedway, Robert attended his seventh winners' press
conference of the 2008 season. It was the third runner-up finish of his
Formula One career - after this year's Malaysian and Monaco GPs - and
his first podium finish since the Italian World Championship round.
- Nick Heidfeld, however, encountered a difficult Japanese Grand Prix
after failing to advance to the second knockout phase of qualifying.
For the third time this year - as was the case in the Spanish and
European GPs - the German finished ninth and had to leave to leave
Japan empty-handed.
- New record achievements for the BMW Sauber F1 Team: In Japan, Robert
secured the team's 15th podium finish and increased the team's
race-leader mileage to 450 kilometres in total. Altogether, the BMW
Sauber F1 Team has scored 265 Formula One World Championship points.
- Reliability a key factor: With 16 rounds of the 2008 season
contested, the BMW Sauber F1 Team is the only squad on the Formula One
grid that hasn't encountered a single retirement due to technical
problems. Consequently, the 5928 race laps completed by Robert and Nick
represent the race-mileage record this year.