BMW Sauber F1 Team - Spanish Grand Prix - Race

Spanish Grand Prix - Race, Sunday - 13.05.07 Weather: dry and sunny,
28-30°C Air, 46-49°C Track Barcelona (Spain). The Spanish Grand
Prix was the fourth race of the season and for the fourth time the BMW
Sauber F1 Team had a car finish fourth. This time it was Robert Kubica
who contributed the five championship points to the team's tally. After
46 laps Nick Heidfeld had to park his BMW Sauber F1.07 in the garage
with a suspected gearbox problem. Robert Kubica: 4th BMW Sauber
F1.07-07/BMW P86/7 Fastest Lap: 1.23.129 min on lap 20 (5th fastest
overall) "I am very satisfied because this is my first race this
season without any problems, and you can see the result. Today
everything came together for me. I could fight for top places, and that
is what I did today. I had quite a good, consistent race, although I
had some problems with tyre degradation in the second stint when I was
behind Alonso and Coulthard was closing the gap, but everything was
under control. In the end, after the second pit stop, I tried to push
and make the gap to Coulthard bigger. Now we have to continue working in
this direction." Nick Heidfeld: DNF BMW Sauber F1.07-05/BMW
P86/7 Fastest Lap: 1.23.483 min on lap 22 (7th fastest overall)
"In the end it was most likely a gearbox problem that stopped me,
but unfortunately my race was over much earlier after the problem
during my first pit stop. For some reason the front right wheel was
loose, we have to look at it how this happened. For the first 24 laps
until this stop it looked superb for me. I drove a long first stint and
my second stint would also have been a long one. On top of this Alonso
was not very quick on the harder tyres in his second stint. I believe I
had the chance to finish on the podium today." Mario Theissen
(BMW Motorsport Director): "We view the result with mixed emotions.
Eight cars retiring was a lot today, and sadly we were among them -
most likely it was a gearbox failure. But as disappointing as this is
for us and for Nick, it was a positive result for Robert. He scored our
fourth fourth place today, drove a very good race and our team is now
established as the third strongest. At the end of the day the result is
pleasing. " Willy Rampf (Technical Director): "After a race
like this I have mixed feelings. Robert drove a strong race and
deserved fourth place. Nick was also in a good position before his pit
stop. We then had a problem fitting the front right wheel nut, had to
bring Nick in one lap later and, as a result, his race was ruined.
After 46 laps a technical failure forced him to retire. However, on the
positive side we are pleased with five more championship points."