Sakhir (BH). After the first three fly-away races of the season the BMW Sauber F1 Team returns to Europe leading the championship. Robert Kubica, who claimed the first pole position for the team on Saturday, and Nick Heidfeld were third and fourth respectively at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The team celebrated its third consecutive podium and, for the first time in its young history, took the lead in the standings, although the gap is only one point.

Robert Kubica: 3rd
BMW Sauber F1.08-03 / BMW P86/8
Fastest Lap: 1.33.775 min on lap 55 (5th fastest overall)
“I am happy with the result. This is my second consecutive podium and the team is leading the constructors’ championship. Unfortunately I had massive wheel spin at the start and hit some debris in the first corner of the second lap. When I drove through the oil I was sure I had punctured my tyre as at that point I didn’t have the information about the oil. But this was a great day for the team. I am now looking forward to Barcelona.”

Nick Heidfeld: 4th
BMW Sauber F1.08-04 / BMW P86/8
Fastest Lap: 1.33.565 min on lap 48 (2nd fastest overall)
“Now after the race I’m much happier than I was yesterday. Having finished fourth is a positive result after what was a difficult weekend for me. The car’s balance on this track was just not how I wanted it to be. I hope I won’t have such troubles again. Finishing the race just one position behind my team mate, who started from pole while I was sixth, is a good result. I enjoyed overtaking Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen. Once again for us in the team everything went smoothly.”

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
“The third podium in the third race – this was really a tailor made start to the season for our team. Finishing third and fourth in Bahrain with Robert and Nick was a very good result. Our performance gives everybody extra motivation for the coming weeks. Both drivers lost positions at the start, the reason may be technical and must be analysed. Later on both drove excellent races and the pit stops went perfectly. In the end the gap to the Ferraris was really small. The car still has more potential for us to exploit, and we shall continue to do this carefully one step at a time.“

Willy Rampf (Technical Director):
“Basically the race went as expected. We knew we could not match the pace of the Ferrari’s here and planned our strategy accordingly. Robert and Nick made the most out of it by finishing in third and fourth. It was pleasing to see that in the end the gap to the front wasn’t big, and there was no real pressure from behind. After three podiums in three races, we shall make the most of our strengths in the short break and be really motivated to close the gap even further.”