Heidfeld: Ferrari Engine Won't Make Sauber Champions

Sauber's German driver Nick Heidfeld has conceded that the Swiss team will never be champions even though their current Ferrari engine deal has seen them become a strong team.

Sauber, who use the 2001 Ferrari engine, progressed strongly to take fourth place last season and are fighting with Renault to be on top of the mid-table scramble this year.

But while Heidfeld acknowledges that the engine does allow the team to be very competitive, he recognises that it is an arrangement that will always leave them one step behind the top pace.

"On the one side we know that the engine is very strong, but on the other we will always know that there will be an engine that is stronger," admitted Heidfeld. "We know it is good and at the moment it is really excellent but I do not think you can be World Champion like that."

But even if Heidfeld is certain that the Ferraris are currently unreachable, that does not mean he is not looking to attack the other big guns. With an improved spec engine giving the German his best qualifying position in the weekend's race in Austria, Heidfeld is enjoying the fact that he may soon be breaking out of the 'best of the rest' bracket.

"The team is improving," said Heidfeld. "We are pushing flat out and it was great to be just behind the two Ferraris and the two Williams. For me it was really nice to be in front of one of the three top teams, so to be in front of both of their cars was great.

"Normally people say it is the top three teams and then it is the best of the rest, but we have to see at the end of the season how our positions are then."