Nick Heidfeld had the honour of delivering
BMW Sauber their first podium position as a fully fledged works team when a mixture of strong speed and a clever strategy helped him cross the line in third place at the end of an eventful Hungarian Grand Prix.
Starting the race on the more favourable intermediate Michelin tyres, Heidfeld was quickly lapping in a points paying position from tenth on the grid, moving into eighth place when his team-mate
Robert Kubica experienced a spin in front of him.
Utilising a long first stint by virtue of his 'disadvantage' of qualifying just outside of the top ten prior to Jenson Button's demotion, Heidfeld was one of the last people to stop, emerging from the pit lane ahead of David Coulthard, while
Giancarlo Fisichella and Kimi Raikkonen's retirement had moved him well into the fifth by this stage.
Choosing to stay out on intermediate tyres as the track continued to dry, the switch to slicks came as Heidfeld was due to make his second stop, the German having had a scrap with Michael Schumacher just before he pitted. It was a stop good enough for him to jump ahead of
Rubens Barrichello into an effective fourth place.
From here, Heidfeld hunted down and caught Michael Schumacher in the closing stages of the race, using his superior traction out of the corners compared to the Ferrari's worn Bridgestone tyres, to slingshot his way down the inside at the chicane, with Schumacher controversially turning in and damaging his suspension.
Heidfeld also came off from the contact badly, damaging his steering but managed to hold onto the third spot over the final three laps to cross the line and record on his fourth career podium position, interestingly the first coming back in 2001 for the Sauber team and the other two occurring at
Williams BMW.
Indeed, Heidfeld was delighted to deliver BMW's best result yet, particularly as the six points, together with Robert Kubica's two for seventh place, have moved them back into fifth place in the constructors' championship, ahead of Toyota.
“This is a fantastic day,” he beamed. “Not only for me but for the entire team. Especially as we had a rather low point after the last two races. It is also very good that Robert finished in the points. This result gives all of us enormous motivation. My race was good. I had to be somewhat careful with the tyres to avoid overheating, but I believe this was the case for most of the drivers today.
“The pit crew did an excellent job. They got me ahead of Coulthard and allowed me to be on the podium. Although it was a great race I did have two worrying moments, one earlier in the race when I went off on some gravel and then near the end when I overtook Michael Schumacher.
"He ran into the back of me and destroyed his suspension, although my steering was then damaged I knew I had an advantage so took it easy to the end of the race.”
