Kubica failed to even get into Q3 on Saturday and admitted that his car was poorly balanced throughout the weekend. As his theoretical chances of winning the title are just about over, the BMW driver urged his team to pull all the necessary strings in order for him to finish the season in 3rd place.
“There is now one race left, and I shall try hard to defend my third place in the drivers' championship,” said Kubica after the Chinese event.
“After a very difficult qualifying I'm pleased with sixth. I made up a position at the start and then another two when Jarno Trulli and Sebastien Bourdais touched in the first corner. The balance of the car was still not good in the first two stints, and it only changed in the final stint after we changed to the softer compound,” explained Kubica his race performance.
The Pole had the most to suffer from his team's policy to focus more on the 2009 car rather than develop the F1.08 for the remaining races of the season. Despite trailing Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton for the top spot in the overall classification in the mid-season, BMW decided that they were an outsider in the title race and abandoned the 2008 programme.
As a consequence of developing their 2009 car, BMW have come to a point when, despite having theoretical chances of winning the Constructor's title this season (before the Chinese Grand Prix), they came to Shanghai with a less-prepared car than 4th place Renault – currently 63 points behind the German manufacturer in the standings.
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