Bmw Sauber Confident in Home Race

German-Swiss Formula One team BMW Sauber will be participating at the next race of the season on familiar territory. The next round will be held at Nürburgring in Nurburg, Germany. The team is will be going into the European Grand Prix, as the race is billed, cemented on third spot and further away from closest rival Renault.

In the races leading to the French and British Grands Prix, Renault has been performing well after a poor start to the season. But at the French and British Grands Prix, BMW Sauber finished better than Renault to increase their lead over the French Formula One team.

At the British Grand Prix, BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica finished fourth while teammate Nick Heidfeld managed a sixth place finish. Both drivers finished better than Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella who finished seventh and eighth respectively.

As a result, BMW Sauber will be going into the European Grand Prix with the title “best of the rest.” This of course refers to the teams behind leaders McLaren and Ferrari which has monopoly on wins this season. Out of the nine races so far, four was won by McLaren while Ferrari has five. Interestingly, it is McLaren that is on top of the constructors’ championship standings.

With the next race in Germany, BMW Sauber team boss Mario Theissen is confident that they have fended off the challenge posed by Renault at least for now. Theissen also lauded the performance of his drivers at the British Grand Prix. “We experienced a tough battle for our 'reserved' fourth place at Silverstone, as Robert felt the breath of Felipe Massa during the last 13 laps,” said Theissen. “But he managed to defend his position and, after starting the race from ninth, Nick's sixth place finish is also an ideal result.”

“After the nine points at Magny-Cours, we have now managed to collect a further eight and thereby strengthen our third place in the manufacturers' championship. The right race strategy and perfect pit-stops provided a major contribution to the success and, in this current form, we are well prepared for our 'home match' at the Nürburgring in two weeks.”

One of the reasons for BMW Sauber’s successful defense of their ‘best of the rest’ title is the back-to-back fourth place finish of Polish Formula One driver Robert Kubica. The driver met a high speed accident at the Canadian Grand Prix which totaled his car. The driver suffered only a minor concussion and a sprained ankle but his car was not so lucky, the 75-G impact left almost nothing of his car, the force would even have disintegrated durable BMW E34 parts.

Although sidelined for the United States Grand Prix, Kubica used the time to prepare for his next race which happened at the French Grand Prix. The confidence that Kubica is showing belies the fact that he just walked way from a potentially fatal crash. The Pole said that in his return, he liked his car better.

“It is true that I qualified fourth and fifth for the last two grands prix, but that is mainly due to the fact that we have managed to develop a better car balance,” said Kubica. “I had a few problems at the start of the season but, now, we're returning to normality and I'm happy about that.”

The European Grand Prix will be held on the 22nd of this month. BMW Sauber’s quest to inch closer to McLaren and Ferrari and away from Renault, Williams, and Toyota will continue at that race.