Theissen: Heidfeld will bounce back

Thursday 22nd May 2008

Mario Theissen has backed Nick Heidfeld to bounce back from his recent woes which have seen the German fall behind his team-mate in pace and points.

Speaking in the build-up to this weekend's Monaco GP, even Heidfeld conceded that at the moment Robert Kubica has the upper hand in the BMW team-mate war.

"It is a bit of a concern because I don't like being slower than my team-mate and Formula One is my life," the German said.

"So it's not a situation I enjoy being in at the moment. It sometimes can happen in Formula One, but unfortunately it doesn't make it any nicer."

He also acknowledged the trouble he is having during qualifying, which has resulted in Kubica outqualifying him in all five of the grands prix that have taken place this season.

However, Theissen, BMW's team boss, is confident that Heidfeld will find a way to overcome his qualifying issues.

"Certainly a year ago he was stronger in qualifying compared to his team-mate, that is the basic difference, and we need to figure out what the reasons are and hope to get back there," Theissen told Autosport.

"The issue is to set up the car in a way that he really can exploit the full potential over one lap.

"The race performance has been okay, overtaking is more than okay - as I think he is one of the best if not the best overtaker in the field - so one has to be careful now to really look into the details and cure them, rather than making big changes.

"To me the situation is not too different to what we had with Robert last year. It was quite difficult for him as well. And it is not just about the car, not just about the way he approaches it.

"It is about the entire environment. And we are currently looking into that. I am very confident we will overcome it together."

Related Links
Fast Kubica worries Heidfeld

Post to del.icio.us

E-mail Article Print-Friendly Version Subscribe to News RSS Feed