2008 was the season which Sauber, with the help of BMW, took
the fight to Formula 1’s top teams. It was the year which saw Robert Kubica
come of age, and it gave him his first, and probably last, Formula 1 victory.
On the 8th June 2008, the Sauber BMW F1 team, had their moment in
the sun.
Kubica had qualified in second place behind Lewis Hamilton’s
McLaren, with Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari third. A standard getaway left the top
three in the same positions as they had been on the grid. Ahead of Kubica,
Hamilton romped away, to open up a five second lead over the BMW. Then, on lap
16, Adrian Sutil’s Force India stopped on track, bringing out the safety car.
This was back in the day when the pits closed when a safety car was deployed,
so the field had to wait for the pits to reopen.
When they did, Hamilton led the charge into the pits. A slow
pitstop for the McLaren driver dropped him behind Kubica and Raikkonen. The
pair reached the end of the pitlane and stopped for the red light, but, for
whatever reason, Hamilton didn’t. He narrowly avoided Kubica, but smashed
straight into the back of the Ferrari, with the Williams of Nico Rosberg then
hitting the back of Hamilton. In one foul swoop, Hamilton had caused mayhem. He
and Raikkonen were out of the race, and Rosberg was penalised. This handed the
race on a plate to BMW Sauber. But it was Nick Heidfeld who led the way!
Kubica was on a two-stop strategy, whereas Heidfeld was on a
one stop. Before Heidfeld lead the field away, seven different leaders headed
the field, before it sorted itself out after their pitstops. Kubica was one of
those to pit over that section of the race, leaving Heidfeld in the lead. Heidfeld
had a decent lead but Kubica was in a much lighter and faster car, and rapidly
caught up to his teammate. Knowing resistance was futile, and a podium was
still on, Heidfeld duly allowed his teammate through. Kubica did this on just
the first lap out of the pits! Kubica never looked back after that, but his
teammate had to! A charging Fernando Alonso in the Renault was putting pressure
on the German driver, and it looked like Sauber might not get the fairytale 1-2
in which it was currently holding.
Alonso’s charge however came to an abrupt end just a few laps
later. A rare mistake saw him spin off and damage his front wing and
suspension, putting him out of the race. Heidfeld was now safely in second
place, and Kubica leading the way ahead of him. Kubica had been the first Pole
on pole at the Bahrain Grand Prix earlier in the year, and took a solid podium
in that race. Now, on this sunny afternoon in Canada, he was on his way to his
first ever Grand Prix victory, and the first for Sauber BMW as well. It was a well-deserved
victory for a team of pure racers.
Kubica took the checkered flag and the championship lead with
it too. Sadly though, this was as good as it got for BMW Sauber. With a victory
in the bag, the team decided to stop development on the 2008 car, to focus on
the 2009 car, where big aerodynamic changes were coming in. Unfortunately, this
headstart didn’t produce a title contender, and team endured a nightmare
season, which culminated in BMW leaving Formula 1, and Sauber nearly going
under. Only Peter Sauber’s tenacity saved it from extinction. To this day, it
is a huge source of regret for BMW, that they didn’t carry on developing what
really could have become, a championship winning car.
As for Kubica, he went to pastures new in 2010, to the
Renault team, and impressed massively that year. His F1 career was sadly cut
short in 2011, after a horrific rally accident nearly left him without his
right arm. On the edge of Ferrari stardom, a promising career was cut short. And
in 2008, a promising future for the Sauber team, was effectively wiped out, on
the day that promised them so much. The 8th June 2008. The day which
Sauber, had its one, utterly glorious moment, in the sun.
