Fuji Qualifying: Heidfeld 5th, Kubica struggles

By BMW Sauber F1 Team
September 29 2007

Due to the rain and fog, the qualifying session at Fuji for the Japanese Grand Prix proved to be a true thriller. Nick Heidfeld secured fifth position on the grid for the BMW Sauber F1 Team while Robert finished tenth. .

With conditions constantly improving, every driver completed an unusual amount of laps in the first knockout phase of qualifying. Advancing to leg two wasn't a problem for either Nick or Robert,. The BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers improved their times lap by lap. Nick finished sixth, setting a personal best time of 1:25.971 minutes, while Robert posted a time of 1:26.300 minutes, thus claiming eighth place. Ferrari's Felipe Massa proved to be the quickest driver by lapping the "Fuji Speedway" in 1:25.359 minutes.

Eliminated: Rubens Barrichello, Alexander Wurz, Anthony Davidson, Adrian Sutil, Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto.

Robert and Nick did not let the difficult conditions hamper them on their way to the top-ten shootout. As in phase one, the pairing completed numerous laps and held top-ten positions from the beginning of the second leg to its very end. Nick set a time of 1:25.248 minutes to finish fifth, and Robert came home seventh with his 1:25.530-minute lap. The fastest time of leg two, a 1:24.753-minute lap, was clocked by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Eliminated: Giancarlo Fisichella, Heikki Kovalainen, David Coulthard, Jarno Trulli, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Ralf Schumacher.

In the top-ten shootout, Nick secured a fine fifth grid position with a 1:26.505 minute lap. Robert, however, had to settle for tenth place after posting a lap time of 1:27.225 minutes. The Pole will start ninth on the grid for tomorrow's race as sixth-placed Nico Rosberg (Williams) will receive a ten-position grid penalty for an engine change. Furthermore, we will have to wait and see if the BMW Sauber F1 Team opted for an alternative strategy for Robert. Pole position was secured by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in 1:25.368 minutes

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