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China GP Qualy. BMW playing a gamble or disaster?
By BMW Sauber F1 Team
October 6 2007
In the qualifying session for the Chinese Grand Prix, the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, didn't quite succeed in achieving the promising grid positions they aimed for. In the first two knock-out phases of qualifying, they finished fifth and sixth respectively but in the top-ten shootout, they had to settle for qualifying eighth and ninth.
But you will have to wait and see if the team made a clever move and opted for qualifying on a wet-weather setup to be perfectly prepared for the race on Sunday. A race that will be held in wet conditions - should the weather forecasters be right.

As usual, advancing to the second knockout phase of qualifying didn't represent the slightest problem for the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers, Robert and Nick. Both contested just one stint and set their minimum times on their second flying laps. Robert finished fifth, with his 1:36.309-minute lap and Nick crossed the line in 1:36.737 minutes to secure sixth position. Provisional pole was clinched by Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen in 1:35.692 minutes.

Eliminated: Rubens Barrichello, Giancarlo Fisichella, Alexander Wurz, Takuma Sato, Adrian Sutil, Sakon Yamamoto.

As it was the case in every qualifying the season to date, both Robert and Nick made it to the top-ten shootout of qualifying. Robert set his personal minimum time of 1:36.116 minutes on the flying lap of his first stint but didn't improve in his second. While Nick clocked his better time - a 1:36.217-minute lap - in his second stint to finish sixth. The fastest time of the second knock-out phase of qualifying was again set by Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen who crossed the line in 1:35.381 minutes.

Eliminated: Vitantonio Liuzzi, Sebastian Vettel, Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen, Anthony Davidson Nico Rosberg.

The top-ten shoot out proved to be one of the most difficult ones of the entire 2007 season, for Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. Both set their faster lap times on their second flying lap on fresh sets of tyres, with Nick proving to be the slightly faster, this time. The German crossed the line in 1:38.455 minutes to secure eighth grid position, with Robert having to settle for ninth position, with his 1:38.472-minute lap. Still, you have to wait and see if the BMW Sauber F1 Team opted for contesting the qualifying - held in dry conditions - on a wet-weather setup as the weather forecasters are of the opinion that it will be raining, during tomorrow's race.

Result: 1st Lewis Hamilton, 2nd Kimi Räikkönen, 3rd Felipe Massa, 4th Fernando Alonso, 5th David Coulthard, 6th Ralf Schumacher, 7th Mark Webber, 8th Nick Heidfeld, 9th Robert Kubica, 10th Jenson Button.

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