Heidfeld and Kubica qualify 7th and 8th on Singapore GP grid

By BMW Sauber F1 Team
September 26 2009

Both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers claimed top-ten positions in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld finished eight in the exciting session at the "Marina Bay Circuit", his team-mate, Robert Kubica, came ninth. Nick and Robert both move up a place on the grid for Sunday's race.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team pair joined the action three minutes after the start of the first qualifying phase. Both qualified easily for the second leg. Nick finished fourth after setting a personal best time of 1:47.347 minutes. Robert was slightly slower than his team-mate, advancing into "Q2" with a lap time of 1:47.615 minutes that put him ninth. Fastest man of the first 20 minutes was McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, lapping the street circuit in 1:46.977 minutes.

Eliminated: Adrian Sutil, Jaime Alguersuari, Giancarlo Fisichella, Romain Grosjean, Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Just a few monents after the lights had gone green for the second phase the BMW Sauber F1 Team went out for its first flying laps. Thanks to posting a time of 1:46.813 minutes on lap 12 Robert advanced to the all-important top-ten shootout. Nick also delivered in fine style during the 15-minute session. His personal best of 1:46.832 minutes put him in ninth - and into "Q3". Nico Rosberg (Williams) set the fastest lap time of the session in 1:46.197 minutes.

Eliminated: Kazuki Nakajima, Jenson Button, Kimi Räikkönen, Sébastien Buemi, Jarno Trulli.

Again Nick and Robert headed out onto the track directly after the red light at the pit lane exit had gone out. Nick set a lap time of 1:49.307 minutes on his first run and came eighth, Robert took ninth after posting a 1:49.514-minute lap. Neither of the drivers, however, had a chance to complete a second flyer as Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello hit the wall with 26 seconds to go. The session was red-flagged - and pole position went to Hamilton, who topped the timesheets when the accident happened. Due to a gearbox change on Barrichello's car both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers will gain one place on the grid. Nick will start from seventh, Robert lines up directly behind his team-mate.

Result: 1st Lewis Hamilton, 2nd Sebastian Vettel, 3rd Nico Rosberg, 4th Mark Webber, 5th Rubens Barrichello, 6th Fernando Alonso, 7th Timo Glock, 8th Nick Heidfeld, 9th Robert Kubica, 10th Heikki Kovalainen.