Heidfeld says Sauber must kick its bad habit

The Swiss team has been criticised in the past for losing its way, most notably by former driver Mika Salo, who said the team needed more staff and lacked the necessary expertise to keep pace with the other teams.

Salo said: "They are too small and must grow a lot. We were testing enough [last year], but we didn't have enough things to test."

Sauber currently lies third in the manufacturers' championship, thanks to both its cars scoring points in Australia and Heidfeld's third place in Brazil. He is determined to keep its early form going.

"We shall try to break an old habit of Sauber," said Heidfeld. "In the last couple of years it often seemed that they had a good start and then the team went into a kind of stagnation. We will do our best to make sure that does not happen."

Heidfeld topped testing at Magny-Cours in France last week in his Petronas-powered C20 chassis and hopes to carry that form on to Imola this weekend.

"The C20 is working really well," he said. "Logic would dictate after three chaotic GPs that certain calmness will take over now. So it will become tougher to score. We have a new aerodynamic package to test, so I am very optimistic."