Canadian GP - BMW Sauber - RaceBMW Sauber made it very clear that the objective for the 2008 season was to record their first Grand Prix win. Today in Canada Robert Kubica did just that from second position on the grid while
Nick Heidfeld used a one stop strategy to secure
the runner up position and make it a one-two result for the Hinwil-based team.
Kubica now leads the drivers’ championship from Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. In the constructors' standings the team is second, three points behind Ferrari.
Robert Kubica
"I'm very happy at having won the first race for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. I’m also happy for Poland and all my fans. It was a very difficult race for me. I started on the dirty side of the track and
Kimi Raikkonen was nearly able to pass me, but I just managed to keep him behind. The timing of the Safety Car was unlucky for me, because I wanted to pit, but then the yellow light went on just about three seconds too early, so I had to continue. When the pitlane was open, almost everybody pitted together."
"I stopped at the exit because the light was still red. Kimi stopped beside me, and then I heard the noise when Hamilton crashed into his car. I have to be grateful to Lewis as he chose Kimi and not myself. After this pit stop I was stuck behind the one-stoppers and lost a lot of time. Timo Glock was the last one of them to stop, and only then could I push. I had just eight laps to increase the gap to 21 seconds, which was a huge challenge.
"
"I finally managed to get a 24 second lead, which meant I was able to stay ahead of Nick. From this moment on I took it a bit easier, but even then it’s very easy to make a mistake, particularly because of the tarmac that was destroyed in some places. But it all worked out and I’m just happy!”"
Nick Heidfeld"Congratulations to Robert for winning this race, which he really deserved! I made a poor start and lost a position to
Rubens Barrichello. Fortunately I was able to pass him, and from this moment on I was one of the fastest cars on the track. I stayed out when most of the other cars pitted because I was on a long stint. I was pushing very hard at that stage."
"We then decided to switch to a one stop strategy, with a very high fuel load and with the soft option tyres which was a challenge. However, I was able to keep
Fernando Alonso behind me. After his second pit stop Robert stayed ahead so I secured second place. Finishing second after starting from eighth is a great result, especially considering the difficult time I have had recently. Thanks a lot to the guys in Hinwil, who built me a new chassis after the accident I had with Alonso in Monaco!”"
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director
“"It is fantastic, I am overwhelmed. It is difficult to find the right words. Today just everything worked well. We hoped for another podium here in Montreal, but would not have dreamed to get a one-two victory. Congratulations to Robert and Nick and to the entire team at home in Munich and Hinwil. Today we achieved a milestone. Both drivers worked with no errors and the strategies paid off. I think we will have to celebrate a lot today.”"
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