By BMW Sauber F1 Team
March 22 2008

In Saturday's qualifying, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld claimed sixth and seventh grid positions at Sepang. Both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers can hope to add more points to the team's tally in the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix. .

In the first knockout phase of qualifying for the Malaysian GP, held in dry conditions, both Nick and Robert experienced no problems whatsoever on their way to advancing to the second leg of the session. Both completed just one stint and finished seventh and eighth respectively, with Nick being fractions quicker than his team-mate. The German lapped the "Sepang International Circuit" in 1:35.729 minutes while Robert set a personal best time of 1:35.794 minutes. Toyota's Jarno Trulli was quickest with a 1:35.205-minute lap.

Eliminated: Giancarlo Fisichella, Kazuki Nakajima, Sébastien Bourdais, Takuma Sato, Adrian Sutil and Anthony Davidson.

Another impressive showing in the second knockout phase of qualifying: Against expectations, the second leg of the session also took place in dry conditions and both Nick and Robert succeeded in once again demonstrating the competitiveness of the BMW Sauber F1.08. Both drivers made one assault and needed just one flying lap in order to finish fourth and sixth respectively, with Nick once again proving to be the slightly quicker of the paring. The German clocked a 1:34.648-minute lap while Robert achieved a personal best of 1:34.811 minutes. The fastest lap time of the leg was set by Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen in 1:34.188 minutes.

Eliminated: Jenson Button, David Coulthard, Nelson Piquet Jr, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg.

In the top-ten shootout, the BMW Sauber F1 Team couldn't fully repeat the performance delivered by Nick in the morning free practice session by setting the fastest lap time. Like the other drivers, Nick and Robert went out early to avoid the predicted rain. Nick made a mistake on his first flying lap and stayed out for a second. After their respective pit stops, both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers took the opportunity to go out for a second assault in the closing stages. Robert crossed the line in 1:36.272 minutes to secure sixth position on the grid while Nick, who was hampered by traffic on his final flying lap, qualified seventh thanks to a 1:36.753-minute lap. Pole position was secured by Ferrari's Felipe Massa in 1:35.746 minutes.

Result: 1st Felipe Massa, 2nd Kimi Räikkönen, 3rd Heikki Kovalainen, 4th Lewis Hamilton, 5th Jarno Trulli, 6th Robert Kubica, 7th Nick Heidfeld, 8th Mark Webber, 9th Fernando Alonso and 10th Timo Glock.