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[McLaren Fan]

From autosport.com:

By Jonathan Noble Monday, June 30th 2008, 10:04 GMT

Robert KubicaRobert Kubica hopes that his BMW Sauber team will treat their poor performance in the French Grand Prix as a wake-up call about how much they need to improve their car.

The Pole and teammate Nick Heidfeld endured their most disappointing showing of the year at Magny-Cours and, on the back of a strong start to the season, he is adamant they cannot afford similar results in the races to come.

"We are currently far from the pace we need in order to challenge our front-running competitors and it's no secret that we need some good updates to get back to the level of competitiveness we showed in the early part of the season," Kubica said in an interview with the official Formula One website.

"The missed podium in Magny-Cours shows that we cannot rely on the others hitting trouble. Lewis's penalties probably just put one less car in front of me at the finish line."

He added: "In Magny-Cours our gap to Ferrari was the highest so far and this was emphasised by the fact that some other teams have instead closed the gap to us. It's a signal that we need to take very seriously - and one we must react quickly to."

Heidfeld told autosport.com last week that he believed improvements tried out to the F1.08 at the recent Silverstone test were enough to get BMW Sauber back to the level they need to challenge Ferrari and McLaren.

However, Kubica believes the next few races will provide a key indicator as to who has the ability to fight for the championship.

"It's not only the gap with Ferrari - we can also take it for granted that McLaren will also be there," he said. "Moreover, we have seen Toyota and Renault in better shape.

"So I think that Silverstone, and also Hockenheim, will somehow become the turning point of the season, with everybody challenging everybody else in order to find their real positioning in both the drivers' and Constructors' Championships.

"The test in Silverstone was altogether positive and I think that some good decisions were taken. Obviously, the answer will come next week."

and from F1 Live:

Peter Sauber, the BMW Sauber team founder, consultant and minor shareholder, has backed Robert Kubica's recent criticism of the German outfit's rate of development in 2008.

Kubica, the on-form Polish race driver, won the recent Canadian Grand Prix but then declared that the team must work harder to close the gap to F1's top teams Ferrari and McLaren following a disappointing showing in France.

"Robert wants more. That is exactly why we took him under contract two and a half years ago," Sauber wrote in his latest column for the Swiss newspaper Blick.

"He was once asked what three things he would take with him to a deserted island, and he answered: a racing car, tyres and gas. This sums him up very well," he added.

"He is focused totally. His whole life is arranged for success.
Mentally he is terribly strong, demanding an awful lot of himself and those around him.

"That is the wood from which champions are carved," Sauber said.

Peter Sauber said Kubica was justified to feel disappointed after the Magny-Cours race, where he finished just fifth.

"Robert has more ambitious goals than that," he admitted, "which is pleasing and a good thing."

E.A, Source: GMM
© CAPSIS International

What are people's views on this? Certainly, I'm not in favour of a driver criticising his team or a team criticising their driver in public. It's okay to discuss the team's performance, but the amount of complaining that has come from some people is unacceptable. Formula One drivers and teams know exactly what they've got to do and the team's dirty laundry doesn't need to be aired in public.

[bud]

i dunno i did not see anything wrong with what he said in the interview. its the honest truth from what Kubica is thinking.

[Jensonb]

Well, they're right. BMW does need to respond to the improvements of those around them. That being said, you're right about drivers and personnel needing to be careful about the comments they make publicly about their team. For now, they're just saying they've go some work to do. They just have to make sure they don't wind up saying anything harsher.

[8-ball]

I found nothing wrong with what Kubica said he was just stating the obvious. It's better than the standard sound bites we get from Mclaren and Ferrari.

[Denthúl]

I found nothing wrong with what Kubica said he was just stating the obvious. It's better than the standard sound bites we get from Mclaren and Ferrari.

I agree.

I think BMW Sauber are in a dilemma, though, as to whether they should focus on trying to keep Kubica in the title battle for this year's WDC as well as themselves in the WCC or to focus most of their efforts on leap-frogging Ferrari and McLaren for next year to have a much better shot at taking both. If they opt to focus more on this year, then Kubica is right - they have to make the same level of improvements as their main rivals, though personally I think that they should settle for being just behind the big two for this year and really storm the field next year. That's just my own opinion, though.

[texasmr2]

I like what Robert had to say and with their current chassis I think they should really start focusing on next years chassis while developeing this year's car further to stay in the '08 WCC hunt. I really dont think they have a shot at the WDC.

[f1ea]

I found nothing wrong with what Kubica said he was just stating the obvious. It's better than the standard sound bites we get from Mclaren and Ferrari.

That's right. I also dont think he said anything 'discouraging' about the team. On the contrary, well said and straightforward and actually motivational
After Magny Cours, im sure a lot worse things could have been said about BMW

Needless to say, from an spectator point of view... i would definitely enjoy if the race goes 3(team)-way until the end.

[Rivelution]

Yeah I think Kubica is just telling it like it is, which is true because BMW was pretty off the pace in France. Atleast he is not blaming the team for his average position in France.

[nikon133]

What makes difference is that he is not blaming team for his own mistakes - as he didn't make any. Considering that both him and NH had lame race in France, he really just said what was obvious; they need to better their car; they can't build their success on others' problems and rely on reliability only.

What else could hi say, anyway? Everything is sweet as? We're doing fine, thank you?

[McLaren Fan]

I wasn't saying that there was anything wrong with these comments. I posted the two articles together, which gave the wrong impression, so my fault. There was, however, an article I read a few days ago in which Kubica said the team needed to work harder. Depending upon the context of the remark and how the journalist quoted it, I was left to wonder was he suggesting that the team were lazy, or was he saying that they should focus more on 2008, I don't know. On top of that, some drivers have criticised the performance of the team recently. Button did it a lot this year, Alonso does it a lot this year, and Hamilton often lays the blame for something at McLaren's door. To me, these types of comments are unnecessary and pretty amateur.

[Rivelution]

Button did it a lot this year

Well no crap, his car was horrible!!! Even Barrichello complained about it, and thats saying a lot.

Edit: I apologize, somehow I read it as if you said last years car. My apologies.

[przemo]

They did what they set out to do, but Robert hopes that he will continue to fight for the WDC. I fear that BMW will not be reacting this year anymore, as they focused on the next season already. Which is probably good, because they won't be getting a championship anyway, but I hope their performance won't be worse than in France throughout the rest of the season.