Heidfeld starts from the back
Engine change wastes the German's qualifying effort
Nick Heidfeld will start from the back of the grid despite qualifying 15th for the Bahrain Grand Prix after the team opted to change his Cosworth engine. The German's car had stopped after a problem with the engine's shut down system in yesterday's free practice session.
With the obligatory 10-place penalty for an engine change this season, Heidfeld will join his former team-mate Kimi Raikkonen on the back row of the grid – the Finn's McLaren also having had an engine change.
"I have qualified 15th which is the same as my position in the previous two races but unfortunately this time as we had to change the engine after free practice yesterday, so I have to start ten places further back,” said Heidfeld. “I think we did a reasonable job learning the new circuit and the tyres, despite losing some crucial time yesterday when I missed most of the second practice session due to the engine problem.
“The biggest issue for me in qualifying was a cone in the middle of the track at turn 10! It should have been moved, it cost me time as it forced me to take a different line."
F1 rookie Giorgio Pantano was disappointed to be over half a second slower than his team-mate. "I'm not happy really because after yesterday we planned to qualify with a good time and that would put us in a good position for the race,” said the Italian. “But today we tried different set-up configurations with the car and it hurt me a lot.
“Now we need to understand why it's changed so much between one day and the next. I find it very strange because we did good timed laps and found a good car yesterday and today we have not been able to find a balance."
www.autosport.com
Blijkbaar heeft Heidfeld gisteren zijn motor al vervangen. Daar wist ik dus niets van. Dat betekent dus dat hij nog achter Kimi moet starten. Kimi dus 19e en Heidfeld 20e?