Happy Heidfeld Shines Again in Practice

German Nick Heidfeld set an impressive pace on Friday to place himself in a very promising sixth place in Friday's practice for the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit.

The Sauber driver, enduring a fantastic second year in Formula One having scored nine points in ten races after a disastrous debut with Prost in 2000, took full advantage of the Ferrari-powered C20 chassis to finish the day right behind the McLarens, the Ferraris and the Jordan of Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Heidfeld was pleased with his day's work but complained of not being unable to run on intermediate tyres when the rain began to fall on the British track at the end of the session.

"Obviously I'm quite happy with my lap time," Heidfeld, who finished sixth in France two weeks ago, said. "We made a lot of progress setting up the car from the first session to the second, and even my long run was pretty good despite the track being damp in places.

"It was a shame that we were not able to get a run on intermediates, because we were all ready to go and I think that would have been helpful if the weather is like this tomorrow."

Finn Kimi Raikkonen was not able to match his teammate's pace today despite his knowledge of the track. However, the 2000 British Formula Renault champion was happy with his progress after setting the tenth quickest time.

"In some ways it helps a little to be on the first circuit so far this season that I know really well, although in reality it probably only makes a small difference to performance," said Raikkonen. "The first session was not so good, but we made some changes and the car was a lot better in the second."