By BMW Sauber F1
April 19 2009

The 2009 Chinese Grand Prix, won by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, proved to be a difficult race for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. In extremely wet conditions, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica were both involved in several incidents. At the end of the day they finished 12th and 13th, thus leaving Shanghai empty-handed. Due to heavy rain, the third Grand Prix of the year got underway behind the safety-car. Robert, who had secured 17th position on the grid, opted for starting the race from the pit-lane as this offered the team the opportunity to change his set-up. Nick remained on the grid as he would have lost too many positions had he also opted for this move.

When the safety-car pulled off at the end of lap 8, Nick gained two positions and Robert three as Adrian Sutil (Force India), Nico Rosberg (Williams) and Fernando Alonso (Renault) had all pitted during the safety-car period. Consequently, Nick continued in ninth and Robert held sixteenth when the field rocketed away on lap 9.

Two laps later, however, Nick encountered his first off-track moment and dropped back to 12th. But this wasn't to be the end of Nick's bad luck. On lap 14, Toyota's Timo Glock tried to pass Nick and the two cars collided. And while Glock was able to continue without losing any positions, the BMW Sauber F1 Team driver spun and dropped to the very back of the field.

Four laps later, Robert was involved in his first incident. On lap 18, he closed in on the Toyota of Jarno Trulli just before the pit straight. On the wet track, however, the vision was virtually zero and when Trulli braked, Robert hit some standing water and crashed into the back of the Toyota at high speed the front of the Pole's car rising high into the air. Nonetheless, the BMW Sauber F1.09 survived this incident virtually undamaged - apart from a destroyed front section. While Robert came in straight away for a new nose and rejoined in 18th, Trulli, who had lost his rear wing in the incident, missed the pit-lane entrance and had to complete a full lap without his wing. Therefore, the safety-car was deployed once again, this time staying out until lap 23.

In the laps that followed, Robert and Nick both experienced a trouble-free period and gained several positions, but on lap 32, Robert damaged his nose for a second time - this time in an off-track moment. Again he had to pit for a new nose and dropped back from 10th to 17th position. After this incident, the Pole's race was virtually over and he took chequered flag in 13th.

Meanwhile, Nick seemed to be on the way to working his way back up to a points finish. From lap 25, the German passed rival after rival and on the 46th lap, he held a promising eighth place as he started pressurising the cars ahead of him.

On lap 51, however, Force India's Adrian Sutil, who held sixth position, crashed heavily into the barriers. The accident happened right in front of Nick, and although the German tried to avoid the debris his car was hit by one of Sutil's wheels, resulting in the damaged BMW Sauber F1.09 suffering from extremely poor handling. Nick lost five positions in the following laps and eventually finished 12th.

Vettel celebrated his second career victory, his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber finished second. Championship leader Jenson Button (Brawn GP) completed the line-up on the podium. The BMW Sauber F1 Team will work hard to secure a better result in next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.