BMW team has lost its way
Here he reflects on the disappointing weekend in Hungary.
“The Hungarian GP turned out to be a race we virtually weren't involved in. At no point in time were our drivers able to clock the lap times we had expected following our performance on Friday and Saturday. And this applied to both tire compounds."
“We have not yet detected the reasons but we will analyze what happened. To do so, we will take a close look at the interplay of car, tires, track conditions and temperatures. This analysis will be carried out at home in Munich and Hinwil, as we aren't allowed to go testing due to the testing ban prior to the next race. The truth is, the result at Budapest represented a real disappointment."
“We were not just slow, we were also inconsistent. Like Ferrari, we also witnessed that one car was doing much better than the other. There was something out there that we did not understand. Obviously we aren't going to sit down and twiddle our thumbs as we still have developments in the pipeline – aerodynamic as well as mechanical. And we definitely won't stop the development of the F1.08 because of one unsatisfying result."
08/04/08 In growing signs that BMW Sauber are starting to fall out of touch in this year’s title race – perhaps as a result of focusing on next year’s car – both drivers suffered from a distinct lack of pace in recent weeks.
Kubica, who only a few races ago was leading the world championship after a string of podiums and a victory in Canada, managed to qualify in fourth place – but come the race, he, like teammate Heidfeld, were simply backmarkers.
“This was a difficult race," said the Pole after finishing eighth. “We were very slow and I was struggling with the overall grip of the car. I had massive oversteer and could not really push. I was trying hard to keep the car on the track. Anyway, one point is better than nothing."
Nick Heidfeld’s race wasn’t much better, the German finishing 10th after starting 15th.
“My start wasn’t perfect but okay," commented the 31-year-old. “As I had hoped, I was able to overtake three cars on the first lap. But later it became more difficult than expected to race with the heavy car."
“We went for a one stop strategy, so my car was almost full of fuel at the start and I also had to take care of the tires. I couldn’t match the pace of the cars in front of me. Now we have to analyze today’s lack of race pace. Normally this is one of our strengths!"
“We were completely off the pace during the race," bemoaned team boss Mario Theissen. “Neither driver was able to do the lap times we expected after the sessions on Friday and Saturday. It was the same on both tire compounds."
“The reason for that is currently not clear, but we shall analyze everything. Congratulations to Heikki Kovalainen for his maiden win in F1 and, of course, Timo Glock for his strong weekend, crowned by finishing second."
Willy Rampf BMW Sauber’s Technical Director added: “Of course we are very disappointed with today’s performance. Now we need to analyze why we were not able to match our qualifying performance during the race."
“We shall do this in the factories in Hinwil and Munich because, due to the testing break, we are not able to test before the next race in Valencia in three weeks."