Heidfeld Encouraged by Jordan's Race Pace

Germany's Nick Heidfeld was encouraged by the improved pace of the Jordan team after a solid European Grand Prix.

"I'm really happy with our performance over the weekend especially in the race," said Heidfeld after finishing in 10th position in the race. "Finishing 10th, only two positions off the points, is positive - as was actually being able to fight and beat some other cars.

"Our race performance is good but we need to see if we can improve qualifying. A big thanks to all the team as they are really doing a good job at the moment. If we keep improving at this rate I'm very pleased."

Heidfeld had scored the first points of the season for Jordan at the Monaco Grand Prix. The Silverstone-based squad left the Nurburgring with no extra points, however, with Italian Giorgio Pantano also finishing outside the top eight.

"I was lucky to finish the race, to be honest, because for the last 25 laps I had a problem with the downshift," said Pantano. "The first part of the race was not going badly and we were doing our maximum but after that this problem started and that was it.

"There's not much else to say. I'm not very happy really as this has happened to me a few times."