Heidfeld Pleased with Point in Home Race

Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld was pleased after scoring a point at his home Grand Prix on Sunday, helping the Swiss squad move closer to Renault in the Constructors' Championship with five races to go.

Heidfeld, who just missed out on a point-scoring finish in France when he crossed the line in seventh, was the third German driver in the points in today's race, along with race winner Michael Schumacher and his brother Ralf, who occupied third place.

"The start of the race was pretty hectic," said Heidfeld after ther race. "There was an awful lot of traffic. It took me a while to find a rhythm, but after that the car was pretty good apart from some understeer. My only problem was when I slid on to the grass in the stadium.

"I don't know whether that was my mistake or whether there was oil down. Whatever, it's good to score a point racing at home."

Thanks to Heidfeld's point, Sauber are now four behind fourth-place Renault in the Championship. The German's teammate Felipe Massa finished right behind him in seventh place after moving over for Heidfeld halfway through the race.

"I had a fantastic opening stint and was able to overtake many cars while running ahead of Nick," he said. "I think today I proved that I can race well in F1. It's good to see the team earn another point, but of course I wish I could have been the one to score it."