Sauber Encouraged by Heidfeld's Performance

German Nick Heidfeld and Sauber team boss Peter Sauber were pleased with the driver's performance in Saturday's qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix after posting the seventh quickest time of the hour-long session.

The Swiss outfit, who last year finished in fourth place in the Constructors' Championship, endured disappointing races both in Austria and then in Monaco two weeks ago, failing to score any points.

But Heidfeld boosted the team's confidence with his brilliant performance on Saturday, and his boss was delighted.

"Seventh place is a fantastic result after a couple of tough races, and especially as the time difference to sixth place is so small," said Sauber after the session. "Congratulations to Nick. Both Felipe and the team expected more, but he had some small problems that prevented him from repeating his morning speed."

The young German admitted he was very happy with his result, but was somewhat frustrated after being beaten by Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella to a place on the third row of the grid.

"My first two runs were good and I didn't have any problems on either of them. The car was going really well," said Heidfeld. "For my third run we tried a small change that made the car worse, and my fourth was spoiled by the rain. It was a difficult situation, not knowing how much to risk pushing in the greasy conditions.

"Overall I'm very happy, though. It's frustrating to be beaten by seven thousandths of a second for sixth place, but I think seventh may be the better side of the grid anyway so I'm not too bothered."

Brazilian Felipe Massa was unable to match the pace of his more experienced teammate, finishing the session in 12th position more than half a second off Heidfeld's pace.