Both Nick and Robert made fantastic starts. Nick passed Fernando Alonso (McLaren) for second position, while Robert stole McLaren's Lewis Hamilton's fourth place. At turn one, however, Robert got stuck behind Alonso and was re-passed by Hamilton to continue in fifth.

In the first phase of the Grand Prix, second-placed Nick was among the fastest drivers, marginally slower than the eventual race winner Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) but clearly faster than the McLarens. On lap 14, the German was the first man to pit for fuel and a fresh set of tyres. After the first series of pit stops he held fifth position, directly behind his team-mate Robert, who pitted on lap 21 and gained one place.

From this point in time, the BMW Sauber F1 Team pairing was involved in a thrilling battle for fourth place. Nick followed Robert like a shadow - often less than half a second behind the Pole - but failed to make the crucial move. On lap 36, however, the battle was over. Robert suddenly slowed down and pitted, retiring due to a technical problem.

In the following two laps, Nick was nearly two seconds faster than before and set two 1:26-minute laps, before heading into the pits for his second stop. In his final stint, the 29-year-old was able to match the pace of the leaders but had no chance of securing a podium finish as the gap to third-placed Hamilton was 20.1 seconds.

Nick settled for securing a fine fourth place and five valuable World Championship points for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. At the end of the day, the team's performance throughout the Australian Grand Prix weekend proved to be promising one. It looks as if all the BMW Sauber F1 Team supporters can look forward to an exciting 2007 season.

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