Belgian GP: Sauber race notes

Nick Heidfeld brought his Sauber Petronas C21 home 10th in today's Belgian Grand Prix, but Felipe Massa retired with engine failure on the 38th lap.

Nick Heidfeld:

"The car was better in the race than it was in qualifying, but I ran in so much traffic all the time that I never really got the chance to get the best from it. Felipe passed me early on when we were running different fuel strategies, but by the second stops we were close again. Unfortunately, on the lap when I needed to go my fastest, just before my stop, I had to let Michael lap me, so I lost a massive amount of time which prevented me getting past McNish. But it would have been incorrect to ignore all the waved blue flags."

Felipe Massa:

"I had a pretty good race car today, so it was a shame we started so far back. If we'd this this set-up in qualifying we would have been okay. I was able to pass Nick early on after getting a good run through Eau Rouge, and I was very happy to get by McNish going down the hill to Eau Rouge after the second pit stops. Everything was going fine until something suddenly went wrong with the engine as I came past the pits."

Peter Sauber (Team Principal):

"Three things are important for us today. We had a top 10 finish. Our set-up was much better than it was on Friday and Saturday. And none of our immediate rivals scored points. In the circumstances it was good damage limitation, and we have learned something."

The team will test at Monza this week in readiness for the Italian GP, with Nick and Felipe each running for two days.

Driver (Chassis)
Heidfeld (C21-06) 10th
Massa (C21-04) Retired lap 38
Spare: (C21-01)

-sauber-