Australian GP Sauber race notes

Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen proved the competitiveness of the RED BULL SAUBER PETRONAS C20 by finishing fourth and sixth respectively in the Qantas Australian GP 2001, after starting from 10th and 13th grid positions. Nick Heidfeld ...

Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen proved the competitiveness of the RED BULL SAUBER PETRONAS C20 by finishing fourth and sixth respectively in the Qantas Australian GP 2001, after starting from 10th and 13th grid positions.

Nick Heidfeld (Driver):
Scoring my first World Championship points is excellent, and this one race has wiped away my 2000 season. I avoided the traffic in the first corner, and later got safely through the big accident when thousand of pieces seemed to be falling from the sky. After that I was able to settle down to a good pace. The car and our Bridgestone tyres were consistent all the way through, and even at the end when I had real pressure from Heinz-Harald, I was able to keep cool and keep pushing. Finishing fourth is so exciting!

Kimi Raikkonen (Driver):
It´s nice to finish my first Grand Prix, and even nicer to score my first World Championship point! I made a pretty bad start, which didn´t help, but then I got into my rhythm. My only problem was some understeer initially on my second set of tyres, which prevented me from going after Frentzen, but gradually the balance came back and I could keep pushing hard to the end. It´s been a good day, and a great start to my F1 career.

Peter Sauber (Team Principal):
The result today was better than we had dared hope for, and our lap times were very competitive all the way through. To have been so close on speed to Heinz-Harald was a real boost. I am delighted that Nick´s great drive was rewarded with his first points, while Kimi Raikkonen was a miracle, lapping at the same speed as Nick and Heinz-Harald for the last 15 laps and scoring a point on his debut. This result makes me happy for our new partner, Credit Suisse, and is very, very important as it gives us a strong foundation for the season. It is a big compliment to the whole team to have created two reliable and fast cars.

On a more sombre note, I would like to register our sympathy for the family of the marshal who was killed in the accident on the fifth lap.