By BMW Sauber F1 Team
October 7 2006

In the qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix, BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Nick Heidfeld secured another top-ten grid position, while his team-mate, Robert Kubica, failed to do so for the first time and had to settle for twelfth place. Leg 1: Both Robert and Nick had no problems whatsoever to qualify with just one timed lap for the second leg of the qualifying session for the Japanese GP. Nick went out just four minutes into the leg and set a personal fastest time of 1:31.811 minutes to finish 13th, with Robert - who set his fast lap five minutes later on a slightly improved track - crossing the line in 1:31.204 minutes to take 7th position.

Not qualified for leg two: David Coulthard, Robert Doornbos, Scott Speed, Takuma Sato, Tiago Monteiro, Sakon Yamamoto.

Leg 2: In the second leg, Nick succeeded in again making it to the top qualifying by setting a 1:30.479-minute lap to finish ninth despite aborting his second assault, in the closing stages of the second. Robert, however, wasn't that lucky. In his first assault he was slightly slower (1:31.094 minutes) than his team-mate and in his second, he had an off-track moment in the Degner corner. At the end of the day, he had to settle for twelfth position, thus failing to qualify for the final leg of the session.

Not qualified for top qualifying: Kimi Räikkönen, Robert Kubica, Pedro de la Rosa, Mark Webber, Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Top Qualifying: In leg three, the BMW Sauber F1 Team opted for aborting Nick's long-run early to set a competitive time in dry conditions, as the circuit was hit by a light drizzle. However, the conditions returned to dry after a very short time and the team's gamble didn't pay off. In the closing stages, when the track was clearly quicker, Nick had just one fresh set of tyres available for another quick lap, while his rivals could make two assaults. Therefore, the German had to settle for a 1:31.513-minute lap and ninth grid position. Pole position was secured by Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Result: 1st Felipe Massa, 2nd Michael Schumacher, 3rd Ralf Schumacher, 4th Jarno Trulli, 5th Fernando Alonso, 6th Giancarlo Fisichella, 7th Jenson Button, 8th Rubens Barrichello, 9th Nick Heidfeld, 10th Nico Rosberg.