Formula One news

'Not driving but swimming' - Heidfeld

Nick Heidfeld endured a tough qualifying result at Interlagos as his BMW ended the session last but one for the Brazilian Grand Prix. With only the Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella behind him, the German will be hoping to stay out of trouble and benefit from problems ahead of him in the penultimate race of the season.

With the 2009 campaign having been a highly frustrating one for all working at the Hinwil team, especially since BMW's July announcement that it will be withdrawing from the sport at the end of the year, the frustrations continued for Heidfeld in Brazil.

"Of course it is very annoying to be out in Q1 but I simply had no chance," Nick explained after qualifying. "We certainly knew it would rain in qualifying and we put our ride height up, but it wasn't enough given the amount of water on the track."

"In a Formula One car you don't only get aquaplaning problems from the tyres, but also with the plank," he added of the wooden board fitted to the bottom of all cars in order for the FIA to check ride heights. "That's not driving anymore, that is swimming. At the end of Q1, when I had changed to fresh tyres, the conditions turned from bad to worse, which didn't help either."

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