Kubica 4th, Heidfeld out of Q3 in Australia's Qual
By BMWF1Talk
March 28 2009
For the BMW Sauber F1 Team, qualifying for the 2009 Australian GP proved to be a session of mixed emotions. While Robert Kubica secured fourth position on the grid, Nick Heidfeld had to settle for eleventh. The massive regulation changes made for an unusual starting grid, most notably pole-sitting sensation Jenson Button (Brawn GP).
In the first leg of the qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, Nick
and Robert easily advanced to the second knockout phase. Both BMW
Sauber F1 Team drivers went out around nine minutes into the session
for their first run. Everybody completed multi-lap runs and improved
lap by lap. Nonetheless, Nick and Robert both pitted for the super-soft
tyres with five laps completed and set their personal best times on the
first timed lap of their second runs. Nick crossed the line in 1:25.827
minutes to finish fifth, while Robert secured ninth with his
1:25.922-minute lap. Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello was the fastest
driver of leg one (1:25.006 minutes).
Eliminated: Sébastien Buemi, Nelson Piquet, Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil and Sébastien Bourdais.
For Robert, advancing to the top-ten qualifying wasn't a problem. On
his tenth
lap, the Pole crossed the line in 1:25.152 minutes to finish
fifth and easily qualify for the final phase of the first qualifying
session of the 2009 season. For Nick, however, the second knockout
phase meant the end of his hopes for a top-ten grid position. The
German carried out two runs, setting a personal best time of 1:25.504
minutes on his second, consequently having to settle for eleventh. The
fastest time, a 1:24.783-minute lap, was again set by Barrichello.
Eliminated: Nick Heidfeld, Fernando Alonso, Kazuki Nakajima, Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton.
In the top-ten shootout, Robert delivered in great style and
demonstrated that the BMW
Sauber F1.09 has what it takes to battle it
out at the front end of the grid. On his second run, the BMW Sauber F1
Team driver set a 1:26.914-minute lap to secure fourth, less than a
tenth of a second behind Red Bull's third-placed Sebastian Vettel. Pole
position was clinched by Brawn GP's Jenson Button (1:26.202 minutes),
followed by his team-mate Rubens Barrichello.
Result: 1st Jenson Button, 2nd Rubens Barrichello, 3rd Sebastian
Vettel, 4th Robert Kubica, 5th Nico Rosberg, 6th Timo Glock, 7th Felipe
Massa, 8th Jarno Trulli, 9th Kimi Räikkönen, 10th Mark Webber.
Times of Qualifying:
Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:25.211 1:24.855 1:26.202 19
2. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:25.006 1:24.783 1:26.505 21
3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:25.938 1:25.121 1:26.830 21
4. Kubica BMW-Sauber 1:25.922 1:25.152 1:26.914 19
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:25.846 1:25.123 1:26.973 21
6. Glock Toyota 1:25.499 1:25.281 1:26.975 19
7. Massa Ferrari 1:25.844 1:25.319 1:27.033 21
8. Trulli Toyota 1:26.194 1:25.265 1:27.127 20
9. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:25.899 1:25.380 1:27.163 21
10. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:25.427 1:25.241 1:27.246 20
11. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1:25.827 1:25.504 14
12. Alonso Renault 1:26.026 1:25.605 12
13. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:26.074 1:25.607 16
14. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.184 1:25.726 15
15. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.454 no time 5
16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.503 10
17. Piquet Renault 1:26.598 12
18. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 1:26.677 10
19. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:26.742 9
20. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.964 10