Formula 1

Turkish GP: BMW Sauber qualifying report

Weather: dry and sunny, 26-30C Air, 40-47C Track Istanbul (TR). Qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul saw an obviously improved performance from the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Tenth and 11th on the grid for Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld is ...

Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:47 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Weather: dry and sunny, 26-30C Air, 40-47C Track

Istanbul (TR). Qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul saw an obviously improved performance from the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Tenth and 11th on the grid for Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld is not a reason to celebrate, but nevertheless motivating as it is a move in the right direction.

Robert Kubica:
BMW Sauber F1.09-03 / BMW P86/9
Qualifying 10th, 1:29.357 min in Q3 (3rd Free Practice: 5th, 1:28.320 min)

"Starting from P10 is definitely better than starting from P18 the way I did in Monaco. However, we still lack a bit of pace compared to the top cars. The track clearly suits our car better than the Monaco track did. However, we really have to fight tomorrow. Although the gap to the lead cars is quite close, there are a lot of cars between us and the front row. It will be difficult."

Nick Heidfeld:
BMW Sauber F1.09-06 / BMW P86/9
Qualifying 11th, 1:27.521 min in Q2 (3rd Free Practice: 14th, 1:28.715 min)

"I have mixed feelings about today's qualifying. On one hand it is annoying to miss the top ten qualifying by such a margin, but on the other I'm happy to see the progress we've made. The car was quick enough for Q3. I was seventh overall before my final outing in Q2 but then I was stuck in traffic on the last sector of my out lap. Given how the 2009 tyres are, this is enough to prevent them from heating up properly and consequently ruin your flying lap. Our new aero package with the double diffuser is obviously a step forward. This is not only compared to Monaco, but also to Barcelona where I scored two points after starting 13th on the grid."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"We produced a solid performance in today's qualifying. Obviously, our goal was, to get both cars into Q3, which didn't quite work out. Today, once again, the whole field was very close. Nick missed Q3 by just five hundreds of a second, and Robert was finally tenth. What this means in terms of the race we will only see once we know the competitors' strategy. On the positive side, in Q2, when all the drivers were running in the same conditions, the gap to the front runners was only just 0.4 of a second. This proves the new aero package has had a positive effect."

Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering):

"Today's result confirms we have made a step in the right direction. However, if we want to fight for the top positions we have to bring updates of the same magnitude to the next races. Yesterday we were able to find a basic set-up for the new aero package, which was also important for the ongoing development of the car. For Robert and Nick it will not be easy to score points tomorrow."

-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

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Title favourite role 'stressful' - Button

Next article Turkish GP: Red Bull qualifying report

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix

NASCAR O'Reilly

NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly

Phoenix II

5 h

Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix

Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

8 h

Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team

NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

9 h

NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles

Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

10 h

Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix

Feature

Discover prime content

Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027

Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense

Formula 1

By Kevin Turner

Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense

Why Christian Horner sees history repeating itself for Adrian Newey at Aston Martin

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Ronald Vording

Why Christian Horner sees history repeating itself for Adrian Newey at Aston Martin

Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Ronald Vording

Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?

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