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Dramatic race for BMW at China, and only 2 points
By BMW Sauber F1 Team
October 7 2007
In a dramatic Chinese Grand Prix, Nick Heidfeld finished seventh to score two points for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Robert Kubica, however, had to cope with a heavy dose of bad luck. The Pole had to retire as race leader. .
What a race! Wet periods, dry periods - and so much bad luck for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Right at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix, slight rain was falling and everybody started the race on intermediates. Nick gained two positions to continue sixth, with Robert defending his ninth position. On lap seven, Robert passed Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi for eighth position, but afterwards, the race seemed to take a rather undramatic course.

It kept on drizzling and everybody defended their positions. From lap 16 to 20, the Ferraris and McLarens pitted for fuel but without changing tyres. The BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers, however, couldn't benefit from the early pit stops of the race leaders as they were on a one-stop strategy and already had lost too much time to pass the McLarens and Ferraris.

But on lap 23, things got hectic. While the race control announced another train shower to fall in ten minutes, the track got dryer and dryer and Williams' Alexander Wurz pitted for dry weather tyres. Afterwards, he was clearly faster than everybody else and at this point in time, the BMW Sauber F1 Team opted for playing it safe with Nick and taking a risk with Robert.

On lap 26, Robert was called in from sixth position to change to dry weather tyres while Nick continued on the intermediates. A gamble that seemed to pay out. At first for Nick and then for Robert.

On lap 27, rain started falling again and Nick held third place while Robert continued in ninth position. On lap 29, Nick also pitted - for intermediates - and lost just two positions to rejoin the race in fifth position. Yet, the rain turned out to just be a short drizzle and at the end of the day, those who had changed on dry weather tyres benefited from having taken this risk.

From lap 31 to lap 33, Nick, the McLarens and Ferraris also pitted for dry weather tyres - with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton stranding in the gravel next to the pit-lane entrance. All of a sudden, Robert held the lead, some 4 seconds ahead of second placed Kimi Räikkönen. Now, the Pole seemed to be the BMW Sauber F1 Team driver on the way to securing another fantastic result for the Munich and Hinwil based squad. While Nick lost dearly and dropped back to tenth position, following his stop for dry weather tyres.

On lap 35, however, the BMW Sauber F1 Team dreams for another podium finish came to a sudden end. Robert suffered a technical failure and was forced into retirement.

At the same time, Nick was handicapped by his wet weather setup. When Wurz made his second pit stop, on lap 38, the German moved up to eighth position and gained another position when Fisichella pitted from fifth place. But afterwards, he had just no chance of making further progress. He put maximum pressure on Toro Rosso's Liuzzi for the rest of the race but on the straights, he had just too much wing to pass the Italian. Hence, he had to settle for finishing seventh and adding another two World Championship points to his and the BMW Sauber F1 Team tallies.

Following all the bad luck suffered in the two Asian rounds, the BMW Sauber F1 Team will work hard to finish the season on a high. Both Nick and Robert will give their very best to score a lot of points in the season finale, held in Brazil in two weeks time.

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