By BMW Sauber F1
July 12 2009

The BMW Sauber F1 Team didn't score any points at its home grand prix after Nick Heidfeld came tenth at the Nürburgring and Robert Kubica finished 14th.

Nick Heidfeld - 10th: "I am very disappointed because today we had the speed to score points, which obviously hasn't always been the case this year, but several things just went wrong. The start was good for the first few metres and I tried to improve my position, but Adrian Sutil's defending was very tough. Then the first stint wasn't easy with the heavy fuel load. But during the middle stint I was able to catch up until I lost some time behind slower cars, including that of Robert. Then I had bad luck at the pit stop, as we were ready to leave the pit, but then a Renault came in and I had to wait. It felt as if it took ages before the lollipop went up."

Robert Kubica - 14th: "I had a very good start and gained a lot of positions on the first lap. Although I had a lot of tyre degradation, the first stint was quite good. Nico Rosberg was on primes in front of me and he was really quick. I changed to primes for the second stint and after a couple of laps I noticed that the tyre pressures were not right. Unfortunately this cost me a lot of lap time and I still had around 20 laps to go. Everybody in the team is working very hard and we are getting slightly better each weekend, but there is still a big gap to the front runners."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "The race result reflects our performance throughout the whole weekend. For us it was a race without anything special happening apart from Nick´s second pitstop. This was because after taking on fuel and fitting new tyres he had to let Nelsinho Piquet pass. Because of this he lost valuable time, and his chance for P8 and a point. However, we had no technical problems."

Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering): "We started the race from 11th and 16th so, as nothing extraordinary happened, we could not expect more. Robert was able to move up a couple of positions on the first lap. We could not take advantage of this as Robert's prime tyres lacked of grip during his second stint. Nick lost a couple of positions at the start, but fought back during the second half of the race. One point would have been possible for Nick, but during his second pit stop he had to wait for Nelsinho Piquet who was coming in. Subsequently because of this we lost decisive time on Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock."

BMW Race Reactions: good pace, disappointing result

Discussion started by BMW Sauber F1 (IP Logged), 12/07/2009 16:39

BMW Sauber F1
12/07/2009 16:39

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Zagloba
12/07/2009 17:15

You are must be kidding Nick the replay show how good Robert was to let you pass him ........remember few years ago when RK was to fast for you ? and you block him ????Short memory Quick Nick?

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Challenge
12/07/2009 17:38

I think you're forgeting about Canada victory, when Nick gently let Kub pass

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Zagloba
12/07/2009 17:55

Did I?

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Gemm
12/07/2009 22:53

Ih he says he was slowed down I have no reason to disbelieve him, unless timing will show otherwise.

Robert was at crawling pace that time due to tyre problems. Amazing how we still get the preasures wrong. He said his pressures were above the limit after 4 laps in 2nd stint, which was confirmed by team telemetry.

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turboturtle
13/07/2009 02:14

ffs, the tyre pressures AGAIN.

regards tt

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asoft
13/07/2009 02:27

More bullshit.

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Raid Phoenix
13/07/2009 15:18

Zagloba, in fact Kubica refused to let Nick go by, as reflect both the time NH was stuck behind, and this:

...He (Kubica) was also asked about him letting Heidfeld go past and whether he was told over the radio that Nick is faster. He simply said "no".

Racing against the machine!

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raczej
13/07/2009 15:31

he let him go .... case closed

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barteks
13/07/2009 15:48

Jaime I think you misunderstood that quote. Kubica was asked by the journalist if the team told him that Nick was faster. Robert answered that there was no such words from the team.

2008 Prediction Champion

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Gemm
13/07/2009 16:16

lap 36

KUB +48.837 11. HEI +50.567

lap 37

10. KUB +51.308 11. HEI +52.382

lap 38

9. KUB +53.243 10. HEI +53.528

lap 39

9. KUB +54.954 10. HEI +55.675

lap 40

9. KUB +55.888 10. HEI +56.113

lap 41

8. HEI +55.994 9. KUB +58.812

no doubt Nick was held up by Robert for few laps

In the post race interview (as Barteks point out) he was aksed whether team told him he is holding up Nick and he said "no"

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Bogs
13/07/2009 16:30

Kubica clearly moved out of Nick's way..they showed the replay of it.

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Zagloba
13/07/2009 16:30

Quote:

J-Raid
Zagloba, in fact Kubica refused to let Nick go by, as reflect both the time NH was stuck behind, and this:
...He (Kubica) was also asked about him letting Heidfeld go past and whether he was told over the radio that Nick is faster. He simply said "no".

Did he relay refuse ...never seen RK deliberately holding any one to the contrary always to soft for ppl let him by easly...

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pcyryl
13/07/2009 17:06

He was 3 seconds off the pace so simply moved out of the way of his team mate. If you are 3 seconds slower you dont need to be told that kind of thing. Robert said that team didn't ask him to do that.

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Raid Phoenix
13/07/2009 17:08

Touché!. Barteks, you are totally right. Sorry for my mistake, not the first time it happens to me while skimming though...

All in all my point wasn't to put Robert in a bad light, but just to correct those who said he had been extremely gentle at letting Nick go by. Obviously the data Gemm published shows he didn't make things easy to NH.

And no, I'm not saying he should have; after all its racing for position, but I did have to prove wrong who criticized Nick for not letting Robert go back in China08 and contrasting it with yesterday's race.

PS: Kubica's tyre pressure problems were that they were way too high.

Racing against the machine!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:07:13:17:10:11 by J-Raid.

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sessions
13/07/2009 17:10

Nick was quicker and was held up but does it really make much difference. Nick may have gained a point, But for sure no guarantee of it, The team is in slump, development is practically non existent,
What did they do, just paint the front wing and call it an up grade.
Robert's pi$$ed off and has reason. Nick is being old consistent Nick, just trying to make a good thing out of a bad thing.They need some serious changes and it looks like it may not happen.
I'll keep watching and hoping but there's very little promise to grab on to at this point.

sessions

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