Heidfeld slowed by debris damage
Nick Heidfeld says his late slump in the Chinese Grand Prix was due to damage sustained when he collected debris from Adrian Sutil's heavy accident
The Force India spun into the barriers with five laps to go and sustained severe front-end damage, with a detached wheel hitting Heidfeld's BMW, which was running eighth at the time but subsequently slipped to 12th.
"Close to the end of the race I had the chance to score one or two points, but then there was a lot of debris on the track, including a wheel, from Adrian Sutil's accident," said Heidfeld.
"I tried to find a way around it, but it was unpredictable which way it would go and it hit me. Afterwards the car felt very strange and I lost four places."
He said he had already been struggling with damage from an earlier tangle with Timo Glock.
"On lap 13 Timo Glock hit me, which caused damage to the car and certainly didn't help," Heidfeld said.
"Of course I'm disappointed with the outcome of today's race, but at the same time I feel I should be grateful I was able to finish it at all."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Hamilton accepts blame for incident with Albon in F1 Brazilian GP
Ferrari drivers called to F1 stewards over Brazilian GP collision
Will Alonso's Indy failure end the age of versatility?
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments