Bahrain GP: BMW Sauber Saturday qualifying notes

After a positive third free practice session in the morning, the season's third qualifying brought a positive result for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Nick Heidfeld was fifth on the Bahrain International Circuit and Robert Kubica will start next to him on the grid from sixth.

Nick Heidfeld:

"I am very happy and the team did a very good job. I had an excellent car and my last run in the final session was really good. The two teams in front of us were clearly faster. The gap is significant, but we have again been the third strongest team. To improve on these positions in the race will only be possible if a Ferrari or a McLaren has been extremely light today, or something unpredictable happens."

Robert Kubica:

"Today has been positive as this is my first qualifying this year without mistakes, so it is a step forward. I was struggling a bit with the balance of the car, however, it is still good and I am hoping for a good race tomorrow and the first points of the season."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"I am very happy with both our drivers' results. That was our third consecutive strong qualifying. I was happy that we only had to go out once in Q2 to make it into Q3. This shows the strength behind our performance, and positions five and six reflect this exactly. In the race we will see when the cars ahead of us will come in for the first pit stop."

Willy Rampf (Technical Director):

"Positions five and six perfectly reflect where we are performance wise, and I am very pleased with this result. The team and the drivers got the best possible performance out of our package. We had no technical problems and now are really looking forward to the race. Currently it looks as if tomorrow we can expect another hot and dry day."

Nick Heidfeld
Engine/chassis: BMW Sauber F1.07-05/BMW P86/7
Qualifying: 5th, 1:33.404 min

Robert Kubica:
Chassis/engine: BMW Sauber F1.07-03/BMW P86/7
Qualifying: 6th, 1:33.710 min

-credit: bmw sauber