Heidfeld left to rue baulking on last lap that ruined his final qualifying effort in Sepang.
by Chris Hayes
BMW Sauber once again threatened to challenge the red and silver cars in qualifying for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, but a frantic finish to the session cost the team dear after Nick Heidfeld was hampered on his last flying lap by a mêlée of slowing drivers.
The German - who had gone quickest in the final practice session on Saturday - was unable to deliver on the gauntlet he had laid down in the morning after a bunch of drivers on their in-laps scuppered his chances of planting his BMW on the front two rows of the grid. The shortened third qualifying knock-out session this year - which has brought an end to the infamous 'fuel-burning' phase - has drastically incentivised slow in-laps as drivers seek to conserve fuel for the race…only this time Heidfeld was the victim.
The upshot was a colossal speed differential as the 30-year-old stormed into turn four, frantically flicking left and right to avoid colliding with his competitors. He had already ruined his first flying lap with a mistake in turn six, and the consequent delay left Heidfeld down in seventh spot on the starting grid for the race, just over a tenth of a second shy of third-placed man Heikki Kovalainen.
"I'm very disappointed about the outcome of Q3," he griped afterwards. "The first corners of my last lap went smoothly, but then there were several cars driving very slowly on their in-laps.
"Apparently they had no information that qualifying was still going on. Before turn four I lost a lot of time because both McLarens were cruising on the racing line."
"I think this cost me about two tenths of a second, which would have meant being third instead of seventh. I just couldn't drive on the line I wanted and, even more importantly, could not brake were I wanted. However, I was very happy with my car in qualifying."
Meanwhile, team-mate Robert Kubica - despite proving unable to replicate the stunning qualifying effort that had seen the Pole place his F1.08 on the front row in Melbourne last weekend - was nevertheless satisfied with his sixth position.
"I'm quite happy with today's performance, although just a little was missing for me to be on the second row of the grid," mulled the 23-year-old.
"The unpredictable weather brought an additional thrill to the qualifying. With the set-up I chose, I knew that qualifying would not be easy for me, but over the weekend we have put a lot of effort into the race preparation so I'm optimistic for tomorrow."
With both cars firmly ensconced inside the top ten, the Munich and Hinwil-based squad is again well-poised for a strong showing in the second race of the 2008 campaign, but BMW Motorsport Director Dr Mario Theissen admitted that Ferrari would be out of reach.
"Ferrari was in a class of its own in qualifying," the German acknowledged. "Behind them it was extremely tight. From P3 there were five cars within only 15 hundredths of a second.
"In this group we missed out on a bit of luck, so we ended up sixth and seventh. In the race tomorrow the weather will play a crucial role."
