Username
Password
Qualifying Report - Blow By Blow
By BMW Sauber F1 Team
March 17 2007
In qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica gave the BMW Sauber F1 Team the best result in the team's short history. Nick gained third position while Robert finished in 5th place. Both drivers delivered stunning performances in the 1st qualifying session of the year.

 

In the first knockout phase, both Robert and Nick easily qualified for the second leg of the session. Both went out late - only five minutes before the end of the 15-minute phase - and needed just one timed lap. Robert set a 1:26.696-minute lap to finish third, with Nick (1:26.895 minutes) being just fractions slower and finishing sixth. The fastest time (1:26.644 minutes) was set by Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen.

Eliminated: Rubens Barrichello, Scott Speed, David Coulthard, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Adrian Sutil, Christijan Albers.

The second knockout phase saw another great performance from the BMW Sauber F1 Team: Again, Nick and Robert easily succeeded in advancing into the top-ten shootout. Nick completed a seven-lap stint and on his final timed lap, he set an amazing 1:25.358-minute lap to clinch second position. Robert also completed a long-run (five laps) but set his fastest lap time of 1:25.882 minutes on his first timed lap, finishing fifth. The fastest time was posted by McLaren's Fernando Alonso (1:25.326 minutes).

Eliminated: Anthony Davidson, Nico Rosberg, Heikki Kovalainen, Jenson Button, Alexander Wurz, Felipe Massa.

In the decisive top-ten shootout, Nick and Robert confirmed the strong performances delivered in the previous phases. Nick completed a total of 11 laps. With his personal fastest lap of 1:26.558 minutes, the 29-year-old claimed third position on the grid for Sunday's race. He finished just 28 thousandths of a second behind second-placed Alonso. Robert completed ten laps. Despite having to abort his second flying lap, the Pole qualified fifth with a personal fastest lap time of 1:27.347 minutes.

Result: 1st Kimi Räikkönen, 2nd Fernando Alonso, 3rd Nick Heidfeld, 4th Lewis Hamilton, 5th Robert Kubica, 6th Giancarlo Fisichella, 7th Mark Webber, 8th Jarno Trulli, 9th Ralf Schumacher, 10th Takuma Sato.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with: