Prior to Sunday's British Grand Prix, Heidfeld had found himself completely overshadowed by team-mate Robert Kubica.
Kubica had out-qualified Heidfeld in the opening eight grands prix, and other than the curtain-raiser in Australia when he retired, had also out-scored the German.
It had led to suggestions Heidfeld would be out at the end of the season, with Fernando Alonso a potential replacement given the double world champion is close friends with Kubica.
But at Silverstone, Heidfeld was finally on the pace in qualifying, and then drove superbly in the wet to finish runner-up behind Lewis Hamilton, albeit a considerable distance adrift.
Despite his problems, Heidfeld is just 10 points behind Kubica in the Drivers' standings, and 12 off the leading trio of Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.
Asked if he feared for his place in the team over recent weeks, Heidfeld replied: "No, that would have been the wrong way to approach the situation.
"I was concerned about my qualifying performance, but I also knew I hadn't suddenly forgotten how to drive a car and that my race speed was still good.
"The critical thing for me is to get the tyres up to temperature in qualifying."
That has been Heidfeld's main problem all season and has resulted in lowly grid positions from which he has often struggled to score points.
Heidfeld feels he is finally getting to grips with the matter, adding: "What is certain is that our work has paid off, and the team has given me tremendous support.
"We conducted a complicated analysis of the situation and took measures to enable me to make better use of the tyres for a single hot lap.
"We will not be easing off now. I'm sure there is a lot more we can do to further improve my performance in qualifying."
Starting from fifth on Sunday, Heidfeld's race was notable for two overtaking moves when he passed two cars in one manoeuvre, notably Ferrari's Raikkonen and McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen at one point.
That has now set him up for his home grand prix at Hockenheim on July 20 when he hopes to maintain his current form.
"It gives me an extra push to go into my home GP on the back of a podium finish in the last race," said Heidfeld.
"I want to keep heading in the same direction - get a good position on the grid and do as well as possible in the race itself.
"I'm determined to put on a great performance."
No comments:
Post a Comment