Kubica finishes fourth in Spain, Nick retires

[davewilson]

In a thrilling Spanish Grand Prix, which was won by Ferrari's Felipe Massa, the BMW Sauber F1 Team secured its fourth consecutive fourth-place finish. This time it was Robert Kubica's turn to finish fourth while Nick Heidfeld, fourth in the first three races of the year, had to leave Barcelona empty-handed.
For the BMW Sauber F1 Team, the Spanish GP turned out to be a race of mixed emotions. On the one hand, the Munich and Hinwil based squad can celebrate another five World Championship points, thus consolidating its position as "third power" on the 2007 Formula One grid. On the other, an even better result should have been possible for both Robert and Nick.

The first start had to be aborted due to a problem with the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, who had qualified sixth on the grid. Consequently, Nick gained a place even before the lights went off after the second formation lap. Both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers defended their positions. When Fernando Alonso (McLaren) had an off-track moment at turn one, following a battle with Felipe Massa (Ferrari), the pairing came extremely close to passing the reigning World Champion. However, the Spaniard returned to the track just fractions of a second too early and Robert and Nick both had to brake hard to avoid an accident.

Subsequently, they continued in competitive style. When Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen had to retire on lap ten, both of them gained another position, coming in for their first pit stops from fifth and six positions respectively. Robert was the first of the two drivers pit on lap 22, and rejoined the race in fourth position behind Fernando Alonso, who had made his stop two laps earlier. Throughout the second stint, Robert was able to match the pace of the World Champion, and follow the Spaniard like a shadow - but was unable to pass him for third place. Following the second set of pit stops, Robert settled for defending fourth position. In the end, the 23-year-old secured his best finish of the season.

Nick, however, wasn't so lucky. The German was the last of the front-runners to come in for his first stop on lap 24, and thanks to the fast laps he had set prior to his stop, he might have returned to the race ahead of Alonso. But it wasn't to be. He got the signal to rejoin before the wheel-nut of his right front wheel had been fixed. Therefore, he had to lap the "Circuit de Catalunya" at extremely slow speed and come in for another stop, one lap later.

Due to this incident, Nick dropped back to 15th position. On the laps that followed, he displayed a lot of fighting spirit and worked his way back up to 12th position - but on lap 48, a technical failure forced him into early retirement.

Obviously, this retirement was a downer for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. However, at the end of the day, the team could be satisfied with the fourth place scored by Robert and the continued improved competitiveness displayed throughout the Spanish Grand Prix weekend.