Interview With BMW Sauber’s Mario Theissen
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Jun 09, 2008
BMW Motorsport
Question: The team has finally done it. Are you surprised that it happened this early in the season?
Mario Theissen: We promised ourselves a win this season. We knew since the last couple of races that we were getting closer to the top, and today everything fell into place, because winning is not only about having the fastest car on the grid, it’s also about channelling the team’s potential in the right direction - in qualifying and the race.
Question: What a difference a year makes: last season Robert’s Montreal crash had everybody holding their breath - now he is giving BMW Sauber their maiden win…
Mario Theissen: Robert has put in a very strong performance ever since Melbourne and it was clear that he was about to win a race. Probably it was a poetic judgment that it happened here.
Question: After Nick’s stop it became obvious that your drivers would only be fighting each other. Did you leave it up to the drivers, or did you tell Nick to let Robert by?
Mario Theissen: We did not have to tell him to let Robert by because his tank was really full in order to make it to the end of the race, so he had to brake very early and there was no point in him fighting Robert.
Question: Robert won the race, but Nick also put in a very strong drive. How would you judge his performance?
Mario Theissen: Yes, Nick delivered a great performance. In his first stint he was really fast and he managed to stay out the longest of all cars on soft tyres. We had concerns that these tyres would not make it so long.
Question: Robert is leading the driver standings and you are just three off Ferrari in the constructors’ (and 17 ahead of McLaren). Doesn’t that make you both championship contenders?
Mario Theissen: We will see. We look at every single race individually. Now we focus on Magny-Cours to see what we can do there.
