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Spanish GP Qualifying. Kubica 4th, Heidfeld 9th
By BMW Sauber F1 Team April 26 2008
Robert Kubica has secured fourth place on the grid for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. It's the fourth time this year that he will start a Formula One race from one of the top-two rows. Nick Heidfeld claimed ninth place in qualifying. .

While Robert had no problems advancing to the second knockout phase of qualifying, things proved to be slightly more difficult for Nick. The Pole made just one two-lap assault. On his second timed lap he crossed the line in 1:21.423 minutes to finish sixth. Nick was slower than his team-mate in his first attempt. Consequently, he went out for a second time. The German clocked a 1:21.466-minute lap, thereby finishing ninth and easily advancing to the second leg of the session.

Eliminated: David Coulthard, Sebastian Vettel, Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil, Anthony Davidson, Takuma Sato.

Again, Robert needed just one attempt to proceed to the next leg, while Nick needed a second run to follow his team-mate into the top-ten shootout. Robert made his first and only assault on mediums, the softer of the two tyre compounds available, and set a 1:20.597-minute lap. The 23-year-old finished second on the time sheets. Nick went out on the hard compound, but only during his second outing on the softer compound, was he able to set a time of 1:20.815, thereby making it into the final segment of qualifying as fifth-placed driver.

Eliminated: Rubens Barrichello, Kazuki Nakajima, Jenson Button, Timo Glock, Nico Rosberg, Sébastien Bourdais.

In the top-ten shootout, Robert confirmed the BMW Sauber F1.08's competitiveness once again. This time he also went out twice and on his second assault he secured fourth position on the grid with a 1:22.065-minute lap. Nick was clearly slower than in the second phase, thus indicating a different strategy - and a heavier car - than Robert. At the end of the day, he set a personal best time of 1:22.542 minutes and had to settle for qualifying ninth. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) secured pole position in 1:21.813 minutes.

Result: 1st Kimi Räikkönen, 2nd Fernando Alonso, 3rd Felipe Massa, 4th Robert Kubica, 5th Lewis Hamilton, 6th Heikki Kovalainen, 7th Mark Webber, 8th Jarno Trulli, 9th Nick Heidfeld, 10th Nelson Piquet.

 

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