Heidfeld happy with another fourth

"I am very happy about this result, as the team did a fantastic job," said Heidfeld, who went on to score his fourth fourth place of the season.

"The race strategy, the tyre choice and the pitstops - everything worked perfectly. We made the most out of everything. The start especially was great fun.

"As the lights went out it wasn't so good, because I was on the dirty side, but then I was able to overtake the others on the outside. I was braking very late for turn one and, once again, I came very close to Fernando Alonso.

"Of course I dreamt I could keep him behind me over the distance, but we knew he would refuel later than me. After the stop he was in front of me and he was also faster.

"I pushed very hard for the whole race, and only in the very last laps I felt a little less pressure."

Heidfeld consolidated even more in fifth place in the standings, the German now having scored 47 points.

Despite qualifying in front of Heidfeld, teammate Robert Kubica was unable to keep his position, dropping down to eighth after a difficult race.

"It was a very hard race and I just hadn't got enough speed," he said. "Also when I was lighter in the first stint I could not build up a big enough gap.

"Every time I pitted someone was overtaking me. I did not have enough speed throughout the whole race, and this also meant I was not able to overtake. I suppose my problems were a bit of everything and I just found the car difficult to drive."