Nick Heidfeld is confident that BMW has remedied the reliability problems that forced him into retirement at the recent Indy race. Now Quick Nick, 30, was heading for another solid haul of points when a hydraulic leak struck on his F1.07 with under 20 laps remaining.
Asked if reliability issues had caused him concerns at the Silverstone test last week, Heidfeld said that his car performed well at the British circuit and is not expecting the Indy problem to return in France. The BMW valve cover gasket, hydraulics, engines and other race parts were closely examined to ensure efficiency.
"No, at the test it was fine. Actually we tried some new things to rectify the problems that we had at Indy, that I had at Indy. It all worked OK, and actually the parts that failed we had on for a very long time before, also during races. Sometimes you can do so much testing and you still don't know if something will fail just after however many kilometers. We tried to change it and I'm quite sure it's going to be OK now," said Heidfeld in Thursday's press conference at Magny-Cours.
Earlier, it was reported that back pain has put Heidfeld in doubt for French Grand Prix. It was even anticipated that BMW Saubers' German rookie could miss Sunday's race at Magny-Cours after complaining of back pain during Friday's practice sessions.
Heidfeld aggravated an injury sustained in recent testing at Silverstone. "I stopped early because I wanted to save my back," said Heidfeld. "Last week at the Silverstone test I had some problems. I can still feel it and as a precaution I want to have it checked today." The German driver was examined at the Centre Hopitalier Pierre Beregovoy in Nevers.
After the medical examination Heidfeld confirmed he is fully fit for this weekend's race. "Yes, it's [back pain] gone now," he said. "I felt that the circuit was quite bumpy and I think some other drivers actually had back problems as well. I just played it safe because I knew that in two weeks' time we would have a race, so one and a half weeks' time and now it's all fine again."
Heidfeld's teammate Robert Kubica, after a horrible crash in Montreal, will have a comeback in Magny-Cours. "After starting the day with some steering problems, which meant missing the first hour of running, everything went smoothly this afternoon. We have nearly completed our programme with quite a lot of set-up work. I am happy to be back in the car, we have to work for tomorrow, but generally the car's balance is not too bad," said the 22-year-old driver at Friday's practice.
"The practice sessions have been okay so far and, anyway, I like driving on this circuit. I stopped early because I wanted to save my back. Last week at the Silverstone test I had some problems. I can still feel it and as a precaution I want to have it checked today," said Heidfeld.
Last Friday during the practice, the domineering team was Ferrari. "Today we were quick and we have found a good balance right from the first few laps in this morning's session. I think the work which culminated in the test session at Silverstone is beginning to produce results. We were competitive and I think that can continue for the rest of the weekend. The harder tyre seems more consistent in terms of performance, while the softer one seems to give more grip, which will be useful for qualifying," said Felipe Massa, who finished first followed by teammate Kimi Raikonnen.
