BMW Motorsport Director Dr Mario Theissen has rubbished any speculation the Munich and Hinwil-based concern is considering replacing the struggling
Nick Heidfeld before the 2008
Formula 1 season is out – though he seemed to offer few assurances that the under-fire German would not be shown the door sooner or later.
Heidfeld has endured a trying start to the current campaign, encountering severe difficulties in getting a handle on
Bridgestone's new Potenza rubber which has consequently left him on the back foot in qualifying and, therefore, also the races.
In sharp contrast to team-mate
Robert Kubica's stellar form, the man from Mönchengladbach has scored just 28 points over the opening eight grands prix to the Pole's 46, and has been out-qualified on every occasion. In 2007, Heidfeld out-pointed Kubica twelve-four in qualifying and by 61 points overall to 39.
The subsequent dip in form has prompted paddock whisperings that BMW is beginning to run out of patience with the 31-year-old, but Theissen is adamant that is far from the case. Heidfeld is understood to have a BMW contract for 2009, but in
F1 it is often said that contracts are scarcely worth the paper they are written on.
“We have given him much support over the past weeks,” Theissen underlined. “The situation is not easy for Nick because he must try to get to the same level as Robert, but at the moment he (Kubica) is quick in every situation.
“We will decide in the summer [about the 2009 driver line-up], probably in the second half of August, but it could also happen sooner or later.”
The German – who had previously failed to include Heidfeld in a list of his five top drivers in F1 [see separate story –
click here] – further stressed that any talk of ditching his countryman before the 2008 season is out is ‘currently not an issue', though the word ‘currently' hardly seems to offer any long-term guarantees.
