Lotus Renault name Nick Heidfeld as Robert Kubica’s replacement
Lotus Renault have confirmed that Nick Heidfeld will be their lead driver for the 2011 season. The decision came after some strong performances by the German driver during the pre-season test at Jerez.
The 33-year-old will test at Barcelona this week for Lotus Renault as an official driver and will be looking forward to continuing his impressive run in pre-season testing.
Heidfeld told reporters, “I really enjoyed the test last week in Jerez and I've already settled in well with the guys at the track. I have a good feeling for the car, which is quite innovative. I'm extremely motivated and can't wait for the season to begin.”
However, the veteran said that he would have liked to be the first choice of any team rather than being selected as a replacement for any driver. Renault started the pre-season tests with Polish driver Robert Kubica and Russian Vitaly Petrov. However, Kuica’s
unfortunate accident forced him out of the entire 2011 season, which opened the door for other drivers like Heidfeld.
After the accident, Lotus Renault stated that the team would like to go with an experienced driver rather than their reserve driver Bruno Senna, and the pace of Heidfeld at Jerez confirmed his seat in the team. Heidfeld was confident of a good showing in
the upcoming season and said that he was impressed with the facilities at Lotus Renault. He claimed that his car was in very good shape and was capable of winning races.
The German also praised the aggressive design of Lotus Renault and said that it was a unique one compared to the other teams. Lotus Renault’s team principal Eric Boullier said that his team has been through a very tough time in the past few weeks. He further
stated that his team had very little time to make a decision, but added that they had reacted very well to the problems they were facing.
Boullier further said that his team’s priority was to have an experienced driver behind the wheel of their car and that was the reason why they chose Heidfeld. Boullier praised Heidfeld and said that the German has very strong technical knowledge, which
will help the team to grow throughout the 2011 season. Lotus Renault's team principal was confident of a strong start to the new season from the very first race, which takes place on 13th March in Bahrain.
Lotus Renault will be quite happy with the outcome of the first two pre-season tests at Valencia and Jerez. The team ended-up as the quickest on the final day of both test sessions. Kubica was fastest in the Valencia test whereas; his replacement Heidfeld
set the quickest lap at Jerez. The team will be looking forward to dominate the testing at Barcelona, which starts from 18th February.
Although most teams have claimed that pace at pre-season testing will not be important, Lotus Renault will be happy with their consistency and will be a major threat to the front-runners in 2011.
Tags: