Heidfeld and Kubica to stay at BMW for 2009

BMW Sauber have confirmed that both race drivers, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, will stay at the German team in 2009. The announcement ends speculation that Singapore Grand Prix winner, Fernando Alonso, will leave Renault for BMW for next year. Third driver, Christian Klien, will also remain at the team.

The German outfit has had a very strong year, with the team still mathematically able to win both championships. Kubica led home a 1-2 finish at this years Canadian Grand Prix, which remains the highlight of BMW’s 2008 season. This means rumours that Alonso might move to the team for 2009 have come to an end, leaving him with only two options of either going to Honda or staying at Renault.

Heidfeld has a long history with the team, having started his F1 career at Sauber, before joining BMW in 2006 after their taking over of the Swiss-based constructor. Kubica also started his F1 career at BMW in 2006 following the departure of former world champion, Jacques Villeneuve.

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Heidfeld given grid penalty for pit entry

Nick Heidfeld will be penalised three grid positions for the Singapore Grand Prix after being deemed to have impeded Honda driver, Rubens Barrichello, while he was on a flying lap. The incident occurred during the first qualifying session when Barrichello was held up by the BMW who was entering the pit lane at the part of the entry on the racing line. The stewards decided he should have done more to get out of Barrichello’s way.

After being held up, Barrichello abandoned his lap and entered the pits. He has also be punished and given a 10,000 euro fine for not using the deceleration zone properly during his pit entry. Heidfeld will now start from ninth after qualifying sixth, whilst Barrichello will stay in eighteenth.

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Heidfeld fastest in Saturday practice

Nick Heidfeld completed the final practice session at Spa on top as the rain kept on falling. With the showers on and off and a damp track for most of Saturday practice, the BMW just beat McLaren to first with a 1:47.876 ahead of Heikki Kovalainen’s time of 1:48.165.

Lewis Hamilton was behind with a 1:48.356 which was not enough to beat his former teammate, Fernando Alonso, who continued his form with a 1:48.307. Felipe Massa led the charge for Ferrari in fifth, 0.2 seconds ahead of his teammate who was also separated by Toro Rosso’s Sebastain Vettel. Mark Webber just made the top ten with a 1:49.054, beating Jarno Trulli to the position by 0.003 seconds.

It wasn’t a perfect session for BMW as Robert Kubica could only manage 13th. The Force Indias led the Hondas with Jenson Button the only man not setting a time after leaving the pits and coming to an immediate stop.

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Heidfeld on top at Monza day two

Nick Heidfeld has topped the time sheets on day two of testing at Monza. Recently Heidfeld has been struggling in timed sessions but today he completed 89 laps to set the fastest time of 1:22.621. Fellow German, Nico Rosberg finished in second for Williams, 0.2 seconds behind the BMW. 

McLaren and Ferrari failed to make it into the 1:22s, finishing 3rd and 5th. They were split by Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel who set a time of 1:23.424, ahead of yesterdays pace setter, Felipe Massa.  His teammate at STR, Sebastain Bourdais, could not match his pace and finished in 10th, almost a second off Vettel’s best lap. He did go faster than Honda though. Both Honda drivers struggled with there cars seeing Barrichello 0.3 seconds behind the French drivers time and Button the only man into the 1:25s.

Fernando Alonso was out for Renault, placing the car fifth. The other Renault powered car, in the hands of Mark Webber, ended up in seventh. Red Bull had been beaten by Force India who continued there good form with a 1:23.823 set by Adrain Sutil.

All the German drivers punched above their weight today and times spread out from Wednesday. Testing concludes in Monza tomorrow.

Results

1.	Nick Heidfeld	BMW	1:22.621s	89 Laps
2.	Nico Rosberg	Williams	1:22.879s	100 Laps
3.	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	1:23.341s	92 Laps
4.	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Toro Rosso	1:23.424s	47 Laps
5.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:23.445s	86 Laps
6.	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:23.606s	95 Laps
7.	Adrian Sutil	Force India	1:23.823s	92 Laps
8.	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:23.936s	101 Laps
9.	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:24.158s	77 Laps
10.	Sebastien Bourdais	Scuderia Toro Rosso	1:24.311s	44 Laps
11.	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:24.695s	51 Laps
12.	Jenson Button	Honda	1:25.058s	42 Laps

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