Broad Oak BMW Formula 1 News

Season finale becomes a weather gamble

The Brazilian Grand Prix proved to be an extremely difficult race for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. At the end of the day, Nick Heidfeld finished tenth and Robert Kubica had to settle for finishing eleventh. Meanwhile, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished fifth to secure the drivers' title.

Just before the scheduled start of the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, a short, but heavy, downpour thwarted the strategic plans of the BMW Sauber F1 Team. The start was subsequently delayed by ten minutes and although the rain had stopped when the field started the formation lap, everybody, apart from Robert, was on intermediates. However, the Pole's gamble didn't pay off and at the end of the warm-up lap he pitted for intermediates - and consequently had to start the race from the pit lane.

Meanwhile, Nick lost several positions at the start and dropped back to twelfth. He subsequently moved up to eighth after passing Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber. As the conditions improved quickly and everybody had to come in for dry-weather tyres between laps 8 and 12, Nick was unable to benefit from his strategy and rejoined in tenth position, while Robert held seventeenth.

Neither Nick or Robert was able to gain ground. Nick had what it takes to match the pace of the cars in front of him, but further overtaking proved to be virtually impossible. However, the weather gamble was not yet over. Seven laps before the finish, another rain shower hit the "Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace".

Nick and Robert both pitted for intermediates even before the rain had begun to fall, but unfortunately for the Munich and Hinwil based squad the rain shower wasn't as heavy as the one encountered prior to the start. One lap later, the rest of the field also pitted for intermediates. Robert succeeded in passing four opponents to move up to eleventh, while Nick remained tenth, but both had to leave Sao Paulo empty-handed.

The fight for the drivers' title, however, was a breath-taking affair: When Felipe Massa (Ferrari) crossed the line as race winner he appeared to be the new world champions, as Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) had dropped back to sixth. But Hamilton got past Timo Glock (Toyota) in the final combination of corners, thus improving to fifth and securing the championship.

On equal points with Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), Robert ends the season in fourth position in the Drivers' Championship. Nick finishes in sixth place in this classification. In the Constructors' Championship, the BMW Sauber F1 Team finishes third with 135 points, with Ferrari winning the title.

Related Links:

BMW Sauber F1 Team

BMW Performance

New BMW Model Selector

Broad Oak Canterbury Approved Used BMW

About Broad Oak

Broad Oak Canterbury Current Offers

Brazilian Grand Prix

Robert Kubica

Nick Heidfeld

Lewis Hamilton F1 World Champion

BMW Contract Hire and Leasing