|
The 2008 Formula One season kicked off with two brilliant races in Australia and Malaysia. And it is already apparent that the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers will be the ones making positive headlines this year.
In the first two rounds of the 2008 season, the BMW Sauber F1 Team scored a total of 19 points - nine more than in the first two races of the 2007 season. At Sepang, Robert secured the very first runner-up finish of his career, thus repeating Nick's achievement in Melbourne. To cut a long story short: the Munich and Hinwil based squad can be proud of having made a truly impressive start to the season.
Therefore, it doesn't come as a surprise that the drivers have reached a positive conclusion following the Malaysian GP. "I'm delighted with finally having claimed my second podium finish after Monza 2006," said Robert. "In Australia I had to cope with a dose of bad luck, but this time everything went perfectly. The team did a fantastic job."
Nick added: "I didn't expect that we would be able to match the pace of the McLarens in Malaysia, and even be slightly faster than them in the closing stages of the race. Compared to the off-season tests, we have made a huge leap."
While Robert stepped into the limelight at Sepang by finishing runner-up and even having been race leader for eight laps, Nick also made for some highlights during the course of the 56-lap race. "Overtaking Alonso and Coulthard at the same time, in the opening stages of the race, was really big fun," the 30-year old admitted. "For me, this was the crucial move on the way to securing the best possible result after having lost several positions due to the close encounter with Trulli."
On the penultimate lap, the German demonstrated what he could have achieved without this incident: he lapped the 5:543-kilometre "Sepang International Circuit" in 1:35.366 minutes, thus setting the fastest race lap. It was the first time he could do so in the 136 GPs he has contested to date - and also represented a 'premiere' for the BMW Sauber F1 Team.
|