Strong nerves help Heidfeld take fourth

The German encountered a problem with his race car during the pre-qualifying warm-up session, which forced him to make a last minute switch to the spare car. The current regulations prevent a driver from running the spare during practice, and so the first lap Heidfeld drove in anger in the machine came on his qualifying run.

"I am very happy about Nick's fourth place," said Sauber. "It requires a lot of trust in the team and the equipment to give everything under such circumstances, over a single all-out lap. Congratulations to Nick for the quick lap and his strong nerves!"

Heidfeld reckoned that much of the praise was owed to his mechanics, for their work in preparing the car. "I am very happy with the result, particularly under such circumstances," he said. "During the warm-up I experienced a problem with my race car and therefore had to change to the spare. Thank you to my team for the good work, because it was exactly the same car, but quicker!"