BMW duo blame traffic for dismal day

Heidfeld went out in Q1 and will start from 16th position, the German blaming traffic for not managing a clean lap.

"Today's result is a true disappointment," said Heidfeld. "I was hoping to make it into the top ten. Being second fastest in free practice this morning wasn't the benchmark for what was possible in qualifying, but at least it proved overall it went quite well.

"Then my first outing in qualifying confirmed the performance. I was sixth fastest at that period of the session. But then it all went wrong during my second outing. I didn't have a clear track on my out lap, which was why my first flying lap wasn't good.

"On my second flying lap I had Kazuki Nakajima in front of me, but couldn't back off because Rubens Barrichello was behind me. Then I went wide in turn eleven and that was it. It was not even enough to get into Q2."

Team-mate Robert Kubica was also hindered by traffic, completing a dismal day for BMW after winding up 19th.

"We were a little bit unlucky in qualifying," he said. "I had yellow flags on the first quick lap of my second attempt. On my second and final quick lap I had two cars in front of me. Although they moved off line they created dirty air.

"So I lost a lot of time as the car was sliding. This result is very disappointing. I will try my very best tomorrow but realistically this will be a very tough race."