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Kubica 5th, Nick 13th. Massa leads despite crash
By BMW Sauber F1 Team
July 4 2008
In the first practice session for the British Grand Prix, Robert Kubica finished fifth, while Nick Heidfeld took 13th position. In total, both drivers covered only 29 laps, as the session had to be red-flagged for nearly 20 minutes following an accident caused by oil on the track.

For the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers and all their opponents, session one at Silverstone took a somewhat unscheduled course. As Robert and Nick had tested at the Northamptonshire circuit last week, they waited for almost 40 minutes before going out for their first runs. Just 15 minutes later, the session was red-flagged.

Renault's Fernando Alonso suffered an engine problem, lost oil on the track and a short time later, Ferrari's Felipe Massa spun on the oil and crashed heavily into the tyre walls. While the Ferrari was seriously damaged, the Brazilian escaped the incident unharmed. Nonetheless, the session had to be red-flagged from 10:58 to 11:15hrs.

For Robert, the incident virtually represented the end of his work. The Pole had completed just one stint prior to the accident and went out for a short second stint only in the closing minutes of the session when the oil binder had gone. At the end of the day, the 23 year-old completed a total of eleven laps and finished 5th with his personal best time of 1:20.367 minutes.

Nick, who completed a total of 18 laps, had just started his second stint when the incident occurred, and consequently he had to abort the run. Unlike his team-mate, the German went out right after the session was restarted and improved to 1:21.107 minutes to finish 13th. Like Robert, he executed a final stint in the closing stages of the session but couldn't improve.

In the second 90-minute session, starting at 14:00hrs BST (15:00hrs CEST), the action will accelerate as it will be the last session held in dry conditions, should the weather forecasters be proved right.

 

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