Heidfeld feeling nostalgic

Sauber ace Nick Heidfeld is looking forward to his home race, the German Grand Prix, this weekend. But he has admitted that he will miss racing on the long, flat-out straights through the forests that have been abandoned in favour of a shorter, more conventional track.

"I'm looking forward to driving on the renovated track, but I have to say that I liked the old Hockenheim circuit with its special character," Heidfeld said.

"The woods, the long straights where you can overtake relatively easily, even in an F1 car, then going into the stadium, and trying to go quickly with small, low-drag wings when you normally would need high downforce. It was a good challenge and I liked it because it had its own charcteristics."

Heidfeld's tone of regret at the passing of the old Hockenheim is not shared by his team-mate Felipe Massa. For the first time the Brazilian rookie will be on a level footing with all his rivals because no one will have driven the new circuit in an F1 car.

"Hockenheim is a circuit with which I am not familiar, but since it has been changed so much I will be in the same position as everyone else," he said.