US GP: BMW Sauber Saturday qualifying notes

The BMW Sauber F1 Team has kept up its 2007 record by qualifying in the top ten with both cars for the US Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld will start from fifth, although third was on the cards, but for a small mistake on his last lap, and he missed the ...

The BMW Sauber F1 Team has kept up its 2007 record by qualifying in the top ten with both cars for the US Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld will start from fifth, although third was on the cards, but for a small mistake on his last lap, and he missed the second row by eight thousandths of a second. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel will start his first ever Grand Prix from seventh after doing a total of 110 laps in free practice.

Nick Heidfeld:

"The balance of the car was better today, but I am not really happy with my qualifying as on the last lap I didn't get it right in the last corner. I had some graining with the tyres and obviously was too aggressive and slid a bit away from racing line, otherwise I think I could have qualified in front of the Ferraris. In Montreal our car was very good over the race distance, so I hope we can continue like this."

Sebastian Vettel:

"It was a thrilling as you have three different sessions and three times the opportunity to either do a good lap or a bad lap. Towards the end I could have been a bit better, but making it into qualifying three was already a big step. I shall sleep better tonight because last night I had the unknown ahead about what will happen."

"However, yesterday I think we had a very good day and today also was not too bad. Here I shall be racing against the best drivers in the world, which is a big challenge, and the race is a bit longer than I am used to. Now I am much more familiar with the car and really looking forward to the race and another good thing is that P7 is on the clean side."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"Sebastian did a very good job. He did exactly what we asked him to do. He was able to concentrate, stayed calm and focused. Whereas Nick was unlucky. He was on the way to qualify in third in front of both Ferraris, but then on his fast lap at the end he lost around four tenths of a second in the last sector. But with a good start he can gain a position or two."

Willy Rampf (Technical Director):

"The result is okay, although it could have been even better for Nick. He was strong and on his way to P3 when the third sector didn't go well. For Sebastian the whole procedure was completely new. To reach the top ten qualifying was the target and we easily made this. Seventh on the grid is a very good result for a debutant who had to jump into the car at short notice. Looking at the long runs we did in free practice, I feel we can expect a good race result."

Nick Heidfeld
Chassis/engine: BMW Sauber F1.07-05/BMW P86/7
Qualifying: 5th, 1:12.847

Sebastian Vettel
Chassis/engine: BMW Sauber F1.07-07/BMW P86/7
Qualifying: 7th, 1:13.513