BMW Sauber F1 Team - 09 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix entered the Formula One history books as a real thriller, with the World Championship literally being decided during the final seconds of the nail-biting last race of the season. There is a good chance that Interlagos will again be the backdrop for the title decisions in 2009.

 

“Brazil was the season finale in the past years. With Abu Dhabi new on the calendar, the situation is different this year. The Interlagos track is very nice to drive. Especially sector 1 with the first three corners is quite challenging. Turn 1 is blind and therefore it is difficult to find the ideal braking point there. The final sector goes up a huge hill and consists of a couple of left turns.

 

“In Brazil we drive anti-clockwise, which is physically quite tough as we are used to driving the other way round. If it rains in Interlagos, driving will be very tricky as there is lots of standing water on the track. So I’m hoping for good weather.”

 

“Interlagos is a fantastic and very challenging track. Because you drive it in an anti-clockwise direction, it puts a real strain on your neck muscles. The circuit used to be full of horrible bumps. Having it resurfaced before the 2007 Grand Prix made a huge difference, but by 2008 the track wasn’t as good. I’ll be interested to see what kind of condition it is in now.

 

“In the last two years we had some exciting championship deciders there, with the weather always ready to tip the scales. There could be a repeat in 2009, even though Brazil isn’t the final race this time. 

 

“I’m in two minds about São Paulo. The churrascarias are really special, and I guess the city has a great deal to offer. On the other hand you hear about all these muggings year after year, which puts you off any major excursions. I’m looking forward to seeing Felipe (Massa) in the paddock again.”

 

“It’s the final spurt for the 2009 Formula One season. Brazil marks another traditional circuit on the calendar, whereas in the final race at Abu Dhabi we’ll all be broaching new territory. While in 2008 the BMW Sauber F1 Team was still in contention for both World Championship titles up to the penultimate race of the season, in 2009 it’s a case of making the best of the situation and taking away as many points as we can. The results of the recent Grands Prix show that our development work is bearing fruit: we made it into the points in five consecutive races. Nevertheless, in Singapore and in Japan we fell short of our potential.

 

“Interlagos is about 800 metres above sea level. Due to the thinner air, all engines lose around eight per cent of their output. This makes the engine wear a little less as the loading on the crank assembly is slightly reduced. That will not only suit our team. Nick will keep running his ninth race engine which was fitted in Singapore, and Robert his eighth also from Singapore. Naturally we want to avoid fitting another new unit, which would mean being relegated ten places on the grid.”

 

“Interlagos is one of very few circuits that are driven anti-clockwise. The key stretch is the middle sector, where it’s just one turn after another. Plenty of downforce, good traction and good balance are crucial here. With the car’s set-up you also have to allow for the fact that the air is thin because of the altitude and so the engines lose output. In the final sector particularly, with its steep uphill start/finish straight, high engine output is critical.

 

“Since the track was resurfaced, it has been a lot less bumpy than before. That makes the mechanical set-up of the cars somewhat easier. The weather can play a decisive role in Interlagos with the likelihood of rain at this time of year being pretty high. Heavy rainfall causes rivulets of water on the track, which leads to aquaplaning. After experiencing compromised race weekends in Singapore and Japan, in Brazil we will do everything we can to fully exploit the potential of our heavily modified car and achieve a correspondingly good result.”

 

Interlagos means “between the lakes”. Indeed, the once 7.96-kilometre race track used to lie in a picturesque setting outside the boundary of São Paulo. But the city has long since crept right up to the crash barriers. Formula One made its Interlagos debut in 1973, and 2009 marks the 37th Brazilian Grand Prix. In 1978 the Brazilian Grand Prix was staged for the first time at the Jacarepagua track near Rio de Janeiro, which hosted the event ten times in all. Formula One returned to Interlagos in 1990.

 

Paulista coffee plantations provided the foundation for economic growth in southeast Brazil, with industrialisation in the late 19th century bringing wealth to the region, though it was spread unequally among the population. Today the citizens of São Paulo suffer from acute social disparities – grinding poverty and immense wealth exist side by side and levels of crime are high. São Paulo was founded in 1554 and is the capital of the Brazilian state of the same name as well as the country’s financial and trading hub. Population figures can only be guessed at. Eleven million people are estimated to live in the city itself, with 20 million in the wider São Paulo area. The climate is subtropical.

 

Interlagos  (BR). In an electric and action packed Brazilian Grand Prix the BMW Sauber F1 Team earned its second trophy this season. Robert Kubica managed to come second in the race after starting from only eighth. Nick Heidfeld improved in his first stint from 18th to tenth, but then retired after his first pit stop because the fuel rig didn’t work and let him run dry. The eight points scored in the penultimate race of the season has put the BMW Sauber F1 Team ahead of Renault in the Constructors’ World Championship to seventh. The BMW Sauber F1 Team wants to congratulate Jenson Button and Brawn GP for the Championship titles.

 

BMW Sauber F1.09-08 / BMW P86/9

“The basis for today’s result was laid yesterday when we decided to take a gamble and drive the wet qualifying with a low-downforce  set-up. This went well in Q1, but was difficult in Q3. Although some people were disappointed with eighth place yesterday, I was quite pleased. Today we had a good and consistent pace. I was surprised at the beginning that it was quite easy to follow Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber. But I had to reduce the engine revs after about 15 laps because the water temperature was too high, and I had to avoid the tow of the guys in front of me. After my first pit stop I was unlucky because I got stuck behind four cars. At that stage Mark was able to increase the gap. This is a great result in a difficult season, and I really hope that I will see this team on the grid next year.”

 

BMW Sauber F1.09-07 / BMW P86/9

“My start wasn’t perfect but I saw there were very tight fights and decided it was better to stay clear of trouble. Then straight away there were crashes in turn two and at the exit of turn five. I was able to overtake a couple of cars, and among them was Romain Grosjean who didn’t really play fair. I was worried I could lose my front wing then. After I had left him behind me I closed the gap to Sebastian Vettel but could not overtake him. Then I was due for my first pit stop. I wondered how quick the car was and soon I received the call to save fuel and to save more fuel, but it was too late. I ran dry in turn 8. At least it is good that the team has something to be happy about today.”

 

“First of all congratulations to Jenson Button and Brawn GP for having won both the Drivers’ and the Constructors’ World Championships. But today we also have some reason to be happy. Robert put in a strong performance without the slightest mistake. He was the only one on track who could keep up with the speed of the front runner over the entire race distance. His second place is a well deserved reward for the intensive work and the efforts of the last weeks. For the entire team it is important to achieve a top result at the end of that difficult season. I want to thank every single team member for that. Unfortunately the fuel rig didn’t work at Nick’s pit stop. Up to then he also drove a strong race. Our second podium finish this season saw us move up one position in the Constructors’ Championship. We want to keep that momentum for the final race in Abu Dhabi.”

 

"That was a first class performance from Robert. He was consistently fast and without any mistakes. A great compliment and thank you to him and the entire team. We really earned this second place on the podium in our penultimate race. The risk to set the car up for dry race conditions during the wet qualifying session on Saturday paid off. Unfortunately Nick had a problem with the fuel rig, which did not work and was responsible for his early exit. Congratulations to Jenson Button and BrawnGP for winning two World Championships."