Not a race for the faint-hearted - Theissen

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen analyses the dramatic incidents witnessed in the Monaco Grand Prix yesterday afternoon as well as the performances of the two BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld.

Mario Theissen: "The Monaco Grand Prix wasn't a race for the faint-hearted. In the urban canyons of Monte Carlo, the weather gods provided us with unrelenting drama. Over the course of the race, adapting the strategy continuously to meet the ever changing weather conditions and the incidents encountered proved to be vital for the race engineers at the pit wall.

"In the case of Robert, we accomplished this task extremely successfully. He kept his cool at all times and thanks to a flawless performance he worked his way up from his fifth on the grid to finish runner-up. At the same time, Nick made an extraordinarily good start. He had been twelfth on the grid but was already running in fifth place by the time his car was damaged in a collision with Fernando Alonso, a collision that occurred through no fault of Nick's own. Due to this incident he dropped back and was unable to score points.

"In the most prestigious race of the year, our team secured its fourth podium finish of the 2008 season. It was the third for Robert, who had come second in Malaysia and third in Bahrain. At the end of the day, it was another great result for the entire team. We can be truly happy with the points we have scored in the first third of the season.

"And now some words to Nick: when it comes to qualifying, he is currently encountering a low. Now we have to make a joint effort to help him overcome this situation as quickly as possible. He has significant difficulties getting the tyres up to working temperature for a fast lap. While Robert only encounters first hints of this problem, Nick is already in massive difficulties. This is a situation we have witnessed throughout the season. However, as soon as his tyres are warm, the problem is history.

"Nick fully immerses himself in the technology and tackles the situation. He is going to analyse the issue together with our engineers. I hope that we will quickly succeed in isolating the cause. We have to discover if there is a factor which represents a bigger obstacle for Nick than for Robert, a task that will require a lot of fine-tuning.

"In 2007 Robert encountered a similar low. Together we analysed the situation and defined remedy measures. And we did so successfully. Nick will return to the road to success, we are fully aware of his true competitiveness. I have often watched him under pressure and in these situations he delivers at his very best. I know that he has what it takes to cope with the pressure and to analyse the technology. These are two crucial basic requirements for solving the problem."