BMW’s disasterous weekend continued with a poor display in the Bahrain Grand Prix. A first corner collision, involving the two BMW drivers, resulted in Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld both damaging their front wings.
From that moment on, the German-Swiss outfit were firmly off the pace, only managing 18th and 19th respectively.
Both drivers and team management are now hoping for a big improvement in Barcelona in a fortnight’s time.
Robert Kubica – 18th: “My race was destroyed after corner one. I was between Nick and another car, we touched each other and I destroyed my front wing. Then after the crash there was a miscommunication with the pit crew. I asked to come in straight away, but was only able to pit after the second lap. Then the race was very difficult, as for a long time I was in a heavy car on prime tyres. We were really nowhere with our pace. I hope we make a big step forward in Barcelona.”
Nick Heidfeld – 19th: “The result is a disaster, although we were unlucky with the collision in the first corner. At first I thought the suspension was broken, but I only had to have a new nose fitted in the pits and then continued. The first half of the race with the harder tyres was difficult, but the softer compound made it a little bit easier. However, it is another race to forget and we all hope for improvements in Barcelona.”
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): “We knew it would be another difficult race weekend for us, and it was also clear the danger of a collision would be higher the further down the grid we were. As we feared, both our drivers had early collisions and as a result the race was practically over. During the pit stops we gave them a lot of fuel and sent them out with hard tyres, because the only chance of getting back into the race would have been during a safety-car period. But even if this had happened scoring a point would have been impossible. We are now concentrating on the next race in Barcelona, where we will compete with a new aero package.”
Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering): “Our starting positions were not good at all. And then our race was practically over just after the start. After the collisions and the necessary repairs neither driver had a chance to really get back into the race. Now we have to look forward. In Barcelona we will have an improved car.”
