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Italian GP Race: Nick 4th, Robert 5th
By BMW Sauber F1 Team September 9 2007
In an eventful Italian Grand Prix, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica finished fourth an fifth respectively, adding another nine World Championship points to the BMW Sauber F1 Team's tally. Nick drove a flawless race, whilst Robert had to show his fighting spirit to regain 5th position after a problematic pit stop.


Having started from the dirtier side of the grid, Nick lost fourth position to Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen and continued in fifth place, with Robert successfully defending his sixth position against Heikki Kovalainen. On lap two, the safety-car was deployed for five laps after David Coulthard (Red Bull) crashed into the tyre walls. Thankfully, the Scot escaped this heavy accident unhurt.

At the re-start, neither Nick nor Robert lost or gained positions, with the German being able to match the pace of the Ferraris while opening a minor gap over his Polish team mate at the same time. On lap ten, the BMW Sauber F1 Team pairing benefited from a problem that befell Ferrari's third-placed Felipe Massa. The Brazilian pitted with a technical issue and retired one lap later, thus allowing Nick and Robert to move up to fourth and fifth positions respectively.

While Nick made his first trouble-free stop on lap 22, rejoining in fourth position following the first round of pit stops, things didn't go so well for Robert. When he pitted on lap 24, the front car jack became jammed under the front wing, and consequently he lost valuable time before he could go out again. The Pole eventually rejoined the race in eleventh position, behind Kovalainen.

When Räikkönen pitted late on lap 26, it was obvious that the Finn was on a one-stop strategy - and Nick's hopes of securing a podium finish were virtually over. From this point in time, the German focused on driving a flawless race without taking too many risks, and in the end he succeeded in finishing fourth, to add another five points to his, and the BMW Sauber F1 Team's, tally.

At the same time, Robert displayed real fighting spirit. When the one-stoppers had made their sole pit stops he was up in seventh position and afterwards he set consistently fast lap times thereby opening a gap that allowed him to stay ahead of them, following his second stop on lap 43. Furthermore, Kovalainen pitted two laps earlier, and Robert put in two more very fast laps to open a gap on the Finn prior to his own second stop.

When Robert rejoined the race he still held sixth position, just 1.3 seconds behind Williams' Nico Rosberg. However, finishing sixth obviously wasn't what the 22-year-old wanted. On lap 46, he moved to the inside to pass Rosberg on the pit straight and when the German tried to fend him off, Robert moved over again and passed the Williams on the outside. With this great move he secured a well-deserved fifth place, thus scoring four more valuable championship points.

Furthermore, Robert also succeeded in achieving the highest top speed of the entire race. On the final lap, he crossed the speed trap at 351.7 km/h, the highest speed a driver achieved throughout the Italian GP weekend.

 

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