“Again qualifying is crucial, I was able to do a good result with the car I had and kept consistent pace, I finished second and this is a great result for team because it is a difficult moment. It is a good boost for us, we are still in the fight, so let's try”, said Kubica after the race.
The 23-year old took advantage of Lewis Hamilton's and Kimi Raikkonen's poor starts and managed to grab an early lead which he lost after the first pit stop to Renault's Fernando Alonso. The Pole was never given a chance to challenge the 2-time world champion and poker friend for the race win afterwards, as the Spaniard went on to build a comfortable lead before the second pits stop and clinch an easy win in the end.
In the dying laps of the race, Kubica had to resist a number of overtaking attempts by Raikkonen but kept his cool and crossed the finish line in 2nd place. Had he drove a more competitive car, the Pole suggested that he would have had a bigger shot of winning the race and, consequently, aim for the championship title.
“This is much better than my Canada win with a car that is not the one from the beginning of the season. We didn't improve a lot in the last two months, so to finish second, to keep quite good pace in qualifying, it is amazing” added Kubica at the pre-race press conference.
BMW have not made it a secret to anyone that further development of their 2008 car ended shortly after the mid-season. The reason was that the German manufacturer wanted to focus solely on the 2009 car due to the new technical and technological implementations for the upcoming season (KERS, slick tires and so on). Also, at the time, neither Kubica nor BMW had a clear shot at challenging their rivals for the championship title.
If the Pole is still considering a last-minute upset in the championship, that would help him advance in the standings and maybe even win the title, BMW already seem content with their 3rd place finish in the manufacturers' classification, despite trailing McLaren by only 7 points.
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