Browse > Home / F1, Featured / BMW Sauber Claim First Ever GP Pole

BMW Sauber Claim First Ever GP Pole

Written by George Katinger · April 5, 2008

Qualifying results from the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain today show BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica on top followed by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

Kubica edged out Felipe Massa by a mere .027 of a second, with Hamilton almost 2 tenths adrift of Kubica. BMW’s speed is evident by Nick Heidfelds P6 starting slot. All top six spots are taken by BMW, Ferrari and McLaren.

The surprise to me is Kimi Raikkonen’s 4th place starting spot .322 off Kubica’s pace. All of the above lead to the inevitable fuel load guessing game, but BMW has not short fueled their qualifying efforts to date.

I would be more concerned with Kubica starting alongside the somewhat desperate Massa in search of his first result. If he attempts to squeeze Kubica as he did teammate Kimi at the Sepang start we may see race altering contact. Not to mention post race fire works!

Hamilton’s post Q interview did not fill me with confidence in spite of the usual “we’ve got a good strategy and I am confident” comments. With fresh engines I expected a better pace from both McLaren’s.

My original race prediction is still possible in spite of Kubica’s intrusion to take pole, and I’ll stick with it: Raikkonen Massa and Hamilton for the podium.

Do I merit an “attaboy” for not jumping on the “Pole on pole” posting titles bandwagon? Or did I just climb on with this comment??

In Other F1 News

It’s difficult to ignore the sideshow that Max Mosley has created with his ongoing spank-gate “personal” crisis. Here’s a summary of the latest reactions.

dailymail.co.uk: Mosley cut to the quick by old pal Eccelestone
sportinglife.com: STEWART CALLS FOR MOSLEY TO GO
autosport.com: American body asks Mosley to step down
sport.setanta.com: Defiant Mosley remains in place
grandprix.com: Brazilian supports Mosley
autosport.com: Mosley launches lawsuit against newspaper

And this bit of character assassination. As a person who has been sued and lost on several occaisions for libel and slander I view the content of this article by Tom Rubython as highly suspect. You decide for yourselves.

Update:

Ron Dennis, when asked to comment on Mosley’s problem had this to say:

When asked about the matter on Saturday, McLaren boss Ron Dennis said he would not discuss the matter as it did not directly involve his team.

“It’s the inevitable question,” said Dennis. “And of course I’m sure there are many similar questions about a similar subject, but this team is not involved, I am not involved. And I have no further comment to make on the subject.

“We’re not involved as a team, we don’t want to be involved as a team. I’m not involved as an individual - I have no further comment to make.”

I wonder what his reference to “… many similar questions about a similar subject,…” might be? A reference to knowledge about more of Max’s sexual indiscretions, or Ron’s treatment by Max last year?

Filed Under F1, Featured 

Comments

2 Responses to “BMW Sauber Claim First Ever GP Pole”

  1. devenso on April 5th, 2008 1:27 pm

    BMW has for sure (in my opinion) short fueled to galn thier first pole. A historic result and well worth it, though as a result they are sure to finish off the podium. Massa and the Raikkonen are on thier race load and will fight for the victory. McLaren is starting to show where they really are, but as I have said, we really won’t know untill Monte Carlo. I perdict a Finn victory with Massa beat again by faulty tactics (but only faulty compaired within Ferrari). McLaren third.

  2. Tim Smith on April 5th, 2008 4:27 pm

    I say congrats to Robert no matter how he got on pole. It’s a confidence builder. As for who will win? I think it will be a Ferrari. I just don’t know which one. I do think Kimi has more fuel than Massa, though.

Got something to say?

You must be logged in to post a comment.