7 & 8th for Kubica and Heidfeld in Abu Dhabi Quali

By BMW Sauber F1
October 31 2009

Both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers qualified under the top ten for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Robert Kubica will start from seventh place on the grid at the "Yas Marina Circuit", while team-mate Nick Heidfeld ended qualifying in eighth place.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers immediately took to the track for the first qualifying session and both completed two stints. Both safely progressed to the second session: Robert's time of 1:40.520 was the fourth fastest. Nick was only a little slower than his team-mate, clocking a fastest time of 1:40.558 to finish fifth after Q1. The fastest driver during the first 20-minute session was Lewis Hamilton (McLaren, 1:39.873 minutes).

Out: Fernando Alonso, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Adrian Sutil, Romain Grosjean, Giancarlo Fisichella

A few minutes later the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers began Q2 - and both drivers from the Munich and Hinwil based team successfully made it through to the final round of qualifying: a time of 1:40.545 minutes on his 17th lap was enough for Robert to finish eighth and progress to the top-ten qualifying. Nick was equally impressive during the 15-minute session: his fastest lap of 1:40.635 was the ninth fastest and guaranteed a place in the shoot-out for the pole position. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was once again the fastest man in a time of 1:39.695 minutes.

Out: Kimi Räikkönen, Kamui Kobayashi, Heikki Kovalainen, Kazuki Nakajima, Jaime Alguersuari

Nick and Robert wasted no time at all and immediately headed out onto the track, which was by now floodlit and surrounded by darkness, to commence the battle for pole position. And the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers acquitted themselves well: Robert clocked a fastest time of 1:41.992 seconds to qualify in seventh place. With a time of 1:42.343, Nick will start tomorrow's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from eighth place on the grid. Lewis Hamilton clinched pole position with a time of 1:40.948 minutes.

Final result: 1. Lewis Hamilton, 2. Sebastian Vettel, 3. Mark Webber, 4. Rubens Barrichello, 5. Jenson Button, 6. Jarno Trulli, 7. Robert Kubica, 8. Nick Heidfeld, 9. Nico Rosberg, 10. Sébastien Buemi