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Quali: Heidfeld 5th, Kubica suffers mech problems
By BMW Sauber F1 Team
July 6 2008
For the BMW Sauber F1 Team, qualifying for the British GP was a session of mixed emotions. While Nick Heidfeld proved to have overcome his qualifying problems and finished fifth on the timesheets, Robert Kubica was sidelined by a technical problem and had to make do with tenth position on the grid.
In the first knockout phase of qualifying, Robert and Nick went out early as rain was expected. Both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers easily advanced to the second leg of the session. Robert set his personal best time of 1:20.444 minutes on his second run and finished fifth. Nick, however, had to abort his second effort as the rain began to fall, as predicted. However, his 1:21.022-minute lap, clocked on his first run, was fast enough to secure twelfth. The fastest lap time of the leg (1:19.957 minutes) was posted by McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.

Eliminated: Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil.

In the dry second knockout phase of qualifying, the BMW Sauber F1 Team pairing demonstrated that the BMW Sauber F1.08 is more competitive at Silverstone than it proved to be two weeks ago in France. Robert and Nick both needed just one flying lap to advance to the Top Ten qualifying. Robert crossed the line in 1:19.788 minutes to secure fourth and Nick finished fifth, with his 1:19.802-minute lap. This time, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton proved to be the quickest by crossing the line in 1:19.537 minutes.

Eliminated: David Coulthard, Timo Glock, Sébastien Bourdais, Jarno Trulli and Kazuki Nakajima

In the top-ten shootout, Nick delivered in fine style again. The German made two runs and set a personal best time of 1:21.873 minutes to secure fifth position on the grid. Robert, however, suffered a technical problem on his first timed lap and returned to the pits without having set a time. After a short check, the team decided not to send him out for a second run, therefore, the Pole will have to settle with tenth position on the starting grid for tomorrow's British Grand Prix. Pole position was secured by McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.

Result: 1st Heikki Kovalainen, 2nd Mark Webber, 3rd Kimi Räikkönen, 4th Lewis Hamilton, 5th Nick Heidfeld, 6th Fernando Alonso, 7th Nelson Piquet, 8th Sebastian Vettel, 9th Felipe Massa, 10th Robert Kubica.

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