BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen has revealed that
Robert Kubica's monster shunt at the Canadian Grand Prix provided both a fright and a memorable moment for
Formula One's third best team of 2007.
Speaking as he reviewed BMW Sauber's season, Theissen admitted that the Pole's accident - which initially left him unconscious and bound for a Montreal hospital - had left the team in a state of shock, but also provided proof that safety advances built into the
F1.07 had worked as intended.
"There were a few low points in the season, most significantly the shock that went through us all when Robert had that accident in Montreal," he said, "We had an agonising few minutes before we received the welcome news that he was practically uninjured.
"But, for me, the highlight of the season was Montreal. Nick [Heidfeld]'s second place gave the team its best result so far, and the fact that Robert was able to emerge from his crash practically unhurt was a great advert for the strength and outstanding construction of the car. When you look at it this way, the weekend felt like a victory on two fronts for the team."
Theissen also revealed that he had been disappointed by the lack of reliability that sometimes hindered the team's progress although, when compared to Kubica's accident, he admits that the feelings were considerably less.
"Other, less dramatic, low points were the retirements due to technical problems," he confirmed, "You can never rule out these kinds of issues entirely, but it hurts the whole team when one of the drivers takes nothing away from a race on Sunday, because they have received no reward for all their hard work. Having said that, we finished in the points in every race this season, which meant we didn't go away from any of the 17 race weekends empty-handed."
Clearly happy with the performance of his drivers, Theissen is happy to have been able to retain the services of both Kubica and Heidfeld next season - despite both being linked to other teams - and revealed that both were re-signed pretty early on.
