Formula 1
Japanese GP: BMW Sauber race notes
Nick Heidfeld scored another championship point in the Japanese Grand Prix. He finished eighth in Suzuka, just fractions of a second ahead of his team mate, Robert Kubica. Now the BMW Sauber F1 Team goes to the season's finale in Brazil in two weeks ...
Published: Oct 8, 2006, 3:35 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Nick Heidfeld scored another championship point in the Japanese Grand Prix. He finished eighth in Suzuka, just fractions of a second ahead of his team mate, Robert Kubica. Now the BMW Sauber F1 Team goes to the season's finale in Brazil in two weeks time fifth in the constructors' world championship. The advantage over Toyota is just one point.
Nick Heidfeld:
"My race was good and relatively unspectacular. At the start I gained one position and moved to eighth. The car was good, but I had trouble with the tyres. In all three stints I had graining on both the front and rear tyres. I have been on the softer compound, which was certainly the worse choice for the race. However, the decision had not been easy as, due to the weather conditions on Friday, we were not able to compare the compounds on long runs."
Robert Kubica:
"It was a good race and I was happy with my pace. But from the beginning I struggled with grip, as I already had an oversteering car from yesterday. I also made a mistake, which lost me about ten seconds, because following cars here in Suzuka is not easy, especially in the quick corners. I perhaps risked too much, but I was able to come back and at the end finish very close to Nick."
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
"Today's race result was not a surprise after yesterday's qualifying. In view of our grid positions we only could expect to just make it into the points. Nick managed this and scored an important point, which has allowed us to defend fifth position in the constructors' championship. Today we have not been as quick as in the recent races, but it was another weekend without technical problems."
Willy Rampf (Technical Director):
"After yesterday's qualifying and, considering the performance all weekend of the Bridgestone teams, we couldn't expect a better result. At least we scored a point, but have not been as strong as in the last races. The positive thing is we approach the season's finale in Brazil fifth in the championship after a trouble free weekend here."
Nick Heidfeld: 8th
Chassis/engine: BMW Sauber F1.06-04/BMW P86
Race Fastest Lap: 1.34.525s on lap 31 - 13th quickest
Robert Kubica: 9th
Chassis/engine: BMW Sauber F1.06-09/BMW P86
Race Fastest Lap: 1.33:509s on lap 39 - 6th quickest
-credit: bmw sauber
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Super Aguri announces Suzuka partner
Next article Good race for Monteiro
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Robert Kubica
Missing out on Ferrari F1 drive felt like "bleeding" to Robert Kubica
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya GP
Missing out on Ferrari F1 drive felt like "bleeding" to Robert Kubica
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Formula 1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
What would you like to ask Robert Kubica?
WEC
What would you like to ask Robert Kubica?
More from
Sauber
Lewis Hamilton 'almost signed for Sauber' before F1 debut, says Peter Sauber
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya Pre-Season Testing
Lewis Hamilton 'almost signed for Sauber' before F1 debut, says Peter Sauber
F1 2025 season highlights: Fans crown Nico Hulkenberg's podium and Lando Norris's title as top moments
Formula 1
Formula 1
F1 2025 season highlights: Fans crown Nico Hulkenberg's podium and Lando Norris's title as top moments
F1 2025 recap: Gabriel Bortoleto justified Sauber’s faith in him
Formula 1
Formula 1
F1 2025 recap: Gabriel Bortoleto justified Sauber’s faith in him
Latest news
Inception Racing switches to Corvette for 2027 IMSA GTD season
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 3 min
Inception Racing switches to Corvette for 2027 IMSA GTD season
Cadillac reveals date for F1 engine factory debut, thanks drivers for being “patient”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
5 min
Cadillac reveals date for F1 engine factory debut, thanks drivers for being “patient”
Marc Marquez puts his chances of retiring within three years at 70%
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
29 min
Marc Marquez puts his chances of retiring within three years at 70%
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe