Hungarian GP Sauber race notes

Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Räikkönen chased home F1´s top three teams in today´s Hungarian Grand Prix, scoring strong sixth and seventh places respectively to strengthen Team RED BULL SAUBER PETRONAS´ fourth place in the World Championship for Constructors.

Peter Sauber
" Our strategy today worked perfectly, and a short middle stint helped Kimi to get up with Nick Heidfeld and ahead of Montoya. Our plan was to have at least one car finish ahead of Trulli, and this we did easily with both. I´m very happy because we earned this point the hard way. Nobody broke down to help us to sixth and seventh places, we did it on merit. So thank you very much to the team and the drivers for this excellent performance, which confirms the progress we have made since Monaco. Last but far from least, congratulations to Ferrari and Michael Schumacher for their great victory."

Nick Heidfeld
" That was a tough but very satisfying point to score today. I was worried that something might break after my brush with Trulli at the start. I´d planned to go to the inside but I made such a good start I had to go to the outside to avoid lifting off. I was on the dirty bit of track and was lucky to get round the corner and keep my place.

"The car understeered a bit more after that, and the engine was cutting briefly and intermittently in Turn One, but nothing got any worse and I was able to take the last point. An enjoyable result, especially as nobody ahead dropped out."

Kimi Räikkönen
" I made a really good start and had got alongside Jarno Trulli, but when he and Nick touched in the first corner I had to back off a little to avoid contact. After that I had to chase Montoya, but our pit strategy was great and I had a spell in sixth place ahead of Nick and Montoya before my second stop. I dropped behind Nick Heidfeld after that and shortly after I´d rejoined the race the pipe to my drinks bottle became detached and sprayed me with liquid. I also lost a rear brake duct as I left the pits, but though that made the car oversteer a little more my lap times stayed the same, so it was okay. Everything felt fine.

-Sauber