Nick Heidfeld proved he is back with a bang in the British Grand Prix at
Silverstone, driving an ‘intelligent' race in treacherous conditions to seal his third rostrum finish of the 2008
Formula 1 World Championship.
The experienced German has come under fire for much of the current campaign for failing to live up to the pace of team-mate
Robert Kubica, who prior to this weekend had out-qualified Heidfeld eight-nil, and led him by 18 points in the title standings.
Not only did the man from Mönchengladbach get the better of Kubica for the first time on a Saturday afternoon this year at Silverstone – seemingly finally getting his head around the tyre-warming woes that have so badly hampered his efforts thus far – but he was also considerably faster in the race too.
While the Pole spun off two-thirds of the way through, Heidfeld mastered the conditions with seasoned aplomb to charge up through the order – on a couple of occasions spectacularly passing two cars at once, to the delight of the enthralled crowd – and re-affirm that ‘Quick Nick' is back in the hunt.
“It was a good race,” the 31-year-old affirmed. “I am happy with second place, because today it was the best I could achieve. Qualifying went well and in the race we did everything right.
“Obviously it was crucial to make the right tyre decisions. At the first stop we were wondering if we should stay with the used set of inters, but luckily we then decided on new tyres. We were expecting a small shower, but when I drove down Hanger Straight and saw a black wall in front of me I thought I should expect more than that!
“The most difficult moments in the race were when cars were overtaking me who had been lapped, but were just on better tyres for the conditions at that time. There was so much water and I couldn't see where it was lying. Once before Abbey I almost spun, but just managed to keep the car on the track.”
