Sauber Announce Deal with Heidfeld

Swiss Formula One team Sauber announced on Monday they had signed German driver Nick Heidfeld from Prost on a three-year contract. The 23-year-old will finish his debut season in Formula One with Prost before moving to Sauber at the end of the year.

"I am happy with the contract and the possibility to work with Sauber," said Heidfeld, who retired from Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and has yet to score a point in grand prix racing.

"I believe that the team has the potential to make further progress and I will give my best to make a significant contribution."

Sauber team principal Peter Sauber is delighted with the deal and hopes he can help in the development of the 1999 Formula 3000 champion.

"We now have the chance to build a long-term relationship with a young driver," Sauber said. "Nick Heidfeld has shown so much potential in his career that we would have liked to have signed him a year ago."

Heidfeld is expected to replace Pedro Diniz at Sauber after sources from the team revealed at the Belgian Grand Prix that Brazilian Diniz is set to complete a swap deal by joining Prost.

The sources said that deal is set to be confirmed this week.