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Kubica finishes 2nd in a fastastic wet Monaco Race
By BMW Sauber F1 Team May 25 2008
In the eventful Monaco Grand Prix, BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Robert Kubica was the only of the front-runners who didn't make a single mistake. Second place was the well-deserved reward for the Pole. Nick Heidfeld, however, was involved in an incident and had to settle for 14th.
In a race that featured mixed weather conditions, two safety-car phases and several incidents, Robert delivered a flawless performance. He had gained one position before the start, when McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen didn't get away at the start of the formation lap, thus moving up to fourth position.

In the opening stages of the race, Robert proved to be the only of the front-runners who avoided making any mistakes on the wet and slippery track. On lap five, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) made contact with the crash barriers, damaged his right rear wheel and had to come in for new tyres, thus offering Robert the chance of moving up to third position.

On the following lap, Robert already was right behind Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen and pressurised the reigning champion. When a crash of Sébastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso) and David Coulthard (Red Bull) resulted in the first safety-car phase, he still followed the Ferrari like a shadow. Following the restart, Räikkönen received a drive-through penalty as his tyres hadn't been fully fitted three minutes before the start - and Robert moved up to second place to quickly close in on race leader Felipe Massa (Ferrari). When Massa spun on lap 16, Robert took the lead.

With 26 laps completed, the Pole pitted for the first time and rejoined the race in fourth position, right behind Räikkönen. Just seconds later the Finn also spun, damaged his front wing and Robert was back in third position behind Massa and Hamilton.

At this point in time, the rain had stopped. On the slowly drying track, Massa increased his lead over Robert to an extent that he could rejoin the race ahead of the 23-year-old, when making his first stop on lap 34. Hamilton was the new race leader.

On lap 54, on the more and more drying track, Robert pitted for dry-weather tyres, while Massa continued on intermediates. One lap later, race leader Hamilton also pitted for dry-weather tyres. Robert and Hamilton were now clearly faster then Massa, who did his stop on lap 57. Thanks to the quick work of the BMW Sauber F1 Team pit crew during Robert's stop, he gained a decisive advantage against Massa and passed the Brazilian.

The safety car was again deployed on lap 62 following an accident of Nico Rosberg (Williams). This incident offered Massa the chance of closing in on Robert but after the restart, the BMW Sauber F1 Team driver kept on delivering in flawless style to secure second place. With this result, he defended fourth position in the Drivers' Championship, just six points behind new championship leader Hamilton.

In the opening stages of the Grand Prix, Nick also drove a fantastic race. From his 12th grid position, the German worked his way up in remarkable style and on lap eight, he already held fifth position. On lap 14, however, his race was virtually over. He was hit from behind by Renault's Fernando Alonso. This accident resulted in a puncture of his left rear tyre. Therefore, Nick had no chance of working his way back up again and finished 14th.

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