British Grand Prix runner-up Nick Heidfeld hopes his qualifying problems are now a thing of the past.
German hopes British GP marks qualifying watershed
British Grand Prix runner-up Nick Heidfeld hopes his qualifying problems are now a thing of the past after finally beating BMW Sauber team-mate Robert Kubica last Saturday at Silverstone.
The German has struggled in qualifying this season, being outpaced by Kubica in each of the first eight races.
However, he finally turned the tables in qualifying at the weekend, taking fifth slot on the grid while Kubica - who, admittedly, suffered a suspension problem - could only manage 10th.
"Yeah, I'm relieved that the weekend, and especially qualifying went smoothly," Heidfeld told
Autosport during testing at Hockenheim.
"Of course the race was fantastic. To be second and after some nice overtakings.
"But for me qualifying was the bigger issue, because the races were usually good anyway. I had a podium two races ago in Canada so it's not like before everything was bad.
"It was my third podium of the season. I'm fifth now in the Championship, just 12 points behind the leader, which is good considering all the problems I had.
"To be such in a good position with a lot of problems is not too bad."
Heidfeld's problem in qualifying stemmed from an inability to get the required heat into his tyres for a single flying lap.
However, he added that, since the French Grand Prix three weeks ago, he and his engineers have been working on a solution.
He added: "Obviously Robert was usually stronger in qualifying than me, and in Silverstone and Magny-Cours we already started to change something.
"In Magny-Cours I was six hundreds behind him and in Silverstone two hundreds, despite having a big oversteer moment.
"Of course it's still not my target (to be behind) but it's getting to where I can live with. I think we have made a big step forward."
