Formula 1

French GP: BMW Sauber race notes

The BMW Sauber F1 Team leaves the French Grand Prix in Magny-Cours with the greatest number of points scored in a single race in its history thanks to Robert Kubica finishing fourth and Nick Heidfeld fifth. These nine points have strengthened the ...

Published: Jul 2, 2007, 6:27 AM

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The BMW Sauber F1 Team leaves the French Grand Prix in Magny-Cours with the greatest number of points scored in a single race in its history thanks to Robert Kubica finishing fourth and Nick Heidfeld fifth. These nine points have strengthened the team's third place in the constructors' championship, and Nick Heidfeld's total of 30 points is two more than he scored in his best ever season (2005).

Robert Kubica:

"This was a good race for the team with us finishing fourth and fifth, and it has been a very good weekend for me. It was a very quiet race. I made quite a good start but we were on the dirty side with Lewis Hamilton, so had no chance to overtake. After that I was close to him just once when he was coming out of the pits and we had a short fight, but he had new tyres, braked later into the hairpin and overtook me again."

"The last 20 laps were about bringing the car home for a good result for the team, as Lewis was a long way in front and Nick behind. The car was very good, physically I am a hundred per cent and mentally too, and I could do another race now."

Nick Heidfeld:

"I am very happy with the result. It was a great race for us, and we scored valuable points. At the start both Renaults went to the middle of the track, I tried to overtake Giancarlo Fisichella on the right hand side, but he moved over, which was not correct. The fights with Fernando Alonso were a lot of fun and also useful for my result."

"At times I had to defend hard, but I think from both sides it was fair play. It was not easy to keep him behind me, especially as in the middle stint he was very fast with obviously a low fuel load. Ferrari was very strong here as we already saw at the last test. You should never discount Renault as they are the reigning champions."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"After mixed emotions at the overseas races, today our team was a hundred per cent back where it should be. Robert put in a very good performance on his comeback and took fourth place, which this year seems to belong to us! Nick improved from seventh on the grid to fifth overall and had some exciting fights with Fernando Alonso."

"We didn't only score nine points, which was our best team result so far, but we also strengthened our third place in the constructors' championship. Congratulations to the drivers, the team here at the track and those in Hinwil and Munich, as we had no technical problems during the race."

Willy Rampf (Technical Director):

"This was a fantastic race for our team. The pit stops were perfect, everything went according to plan and we had no problems at all. Both drivers in their races used the cars to their full potential and didn't make the smallest mistakes. Nick drove a very good race, although he was under pressure all the time. Robert's performance at his return to racing was excellent. With this result we can now go to Silverstone feeling optimistic."

Robert Kubica: 4th
BMW Sauber F1.07-03/BMW P86/7
Fastest Lap: 1.17.153 min on lap 44 (10th fastest overall)

Nick Heidfeld: 5th
BMW Sauber F1.07-05/BMW P86/7
Fastest Lap: 1.16.875 min on lap 70 (7th fastest overall)

-credit: bmw sauber

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