The fourth race of the 2007 Formula One season marked the fourth time that a BMW Sauber driver placed fourth this year. The Spanish Grand Prix was held at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. The race saw eight cars retired due to various car problems. For BMW, a car finished the race, the car driven by the Pole Robert Kubica. For this season, the fourth-place finish was Kubica’s best performance. During the first race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix, Kubica has not finish the race because of problems with his car. In the second race of the season, the Malaysian Grand Prix, the Pole struggled getting only a 18th place finish. The next race at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Kubica did show his skills when he finished in sixth spot.After the race, Kubica has this to say about his performance: "I am very satisfied because this is my first race this season without problems, and you can see the result. Today everything came together for me. I could fight for top places, and that’s what I did today. "Although he might be a better showing at the Spanish Grand Prix, Kubica has admitted that he also encountered some problems with his car. "I had a very good, consistent race, although I had some problems with tire degradation in the second stint, when I was behind Alonso and Coulthard was closing the gap, but everything was under control," he said. "In the end, after the second pit stop, I tried to push, and the discrepancy increased to Coulthard. Now we continue in this direction, "the driver has concluded.Meanwhile teammate Nick Heidfeld not finish the race because of problems with the gearbox cars, although other components such as the BMW brake hose and other components work well and do not show much wear . This is the first time this season that the German driver not to finish a race. He scored fourth place finishes at the Australian, Malaysian and Bahrain Grand Prix. After the race, Heidfeld said his car problems: "In the end it was probably a gearbox problem that stopped me, but unfortunately my race was over much earlier, after a problem during my first pit stop. For whatever reason, the right front wheel was loose, we must look at how it happened. For the first 24 laps until this stop, it looked great to me. I drove a long first stint and my second stint would also long been. On top of that Alonso was not very quick on the harder tire in his second stint. I think I had the chance to be on stage today. "While the number four repeats itself for the team, they are lucky they have not fallen to fourth place in the Constructor’s Championship. The team is currently third in the standings with 24 points. The current leader is the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team with 58 points, followed by the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team with 49 points. Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director, has this to say: "We see the result with mixed feelings. Eight cars had retired a lot today, and unfortunately we were among them – most likely had a gearbox failure. But as disappointing as this for us and for Nick it was a positive result for Robert. He scored our fourth quarter today, drove a very good race and our team is now established as the third strongest. At the end of the day the result is nice. "The team has to improve their performance, as both Renault and Toyota are striving for the third place they currently occupy. With the victory over the fourth place finish, they increased their lead over both Toyota and Renault. Willy Rampf, BMW’s technical director is obviously pleased with fourth place finish in the team giving them the necessary points. Rampf has this to say after the race: "After a race like this I have mixed feelings. Robert drove a strong race, earning fourth place. Nick was in a good position for his pitstop. Then we had a problem fitting the right front wheel nut, Nick had to bring a lap later, and consequently his race was ruined. After 46 laps a technical problem forced him to retire. However, the positive side we’re happy with five points for the championship. "
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