By BMW Sauber F1 Team
September 15 2007

For the first time in 13 races, one of the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers won't be among the top ten on the grid for a Formula One GP. In qualifying for the Belgian GP, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished fifth and seventh, however, the Pole received a ten-position grid penalty after his engine had to be changed due to a technical problem in the third free practice session.

Business as usual: For Robert and Nick, advancing to the second knockout phase of qualifying wasn't a problem. Nick Heidfeld needed just one flying lap to secure sixth position with a lap time of 1:46.923 minutes. Robert, however, had to go out twice, but on his second assault he was even faster than his team-mate and secured fifth position with his 1:46.707-minute lap. The fastest lap time of the leg was set by McLaren's Fernando Alonso who crossed the line in 1:46.058 minutes.

Eliminated: Sebastian Vettel, Rubens Barrichello, Takuma Sato, Adrian Sutil, Anthony Davidson, Sakon Yamamoto.

Again, Robert and Nick both easily qualified for the top-ten shootout. Both made two assaults and in the end they finished fifth and sixth, with Robert being the faster of the pairing. The Pole crossed the line in 1:45.885 minutes to finish fifth, with Nick securing sixth place with his 1:45.994-minute lap. The fastest lap time was set by Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen who lapped the "Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps" in 1:45.070 minutes.

Eliminated: Giancarlo Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher, David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Alexander Wurz.

With a 1:47.409-minute lap, Nick Heidfeld set the seventh fastest time but secured sixth position on the grid in the qualifying top-ten shootout for the Belgian Grand Prix. The reason: Robert Kubica was clearly faster than his team-mate and crossed the line in 1:46.996 minutes, thus setting the fifth-fastest time. However, the Pole will start 15th on the Belgian GP grid due to the ten-position penalty he receives for his engine change following the technical problem experienced in the third free practice session. Pole position was secured by Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen in 1:45.994 minutes.

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