Nick Heidfeld not ruling out Lotus Renault GP’s chances of winning races in 2011 Formula 1 season
Lotus Renault GP’s Nick Heidfeld has not ruled out his team’s chances of winning races in the 2011 season.
Heidfeld has claimed that the team came up with a pretty good new car in terms of pace and reliability.
The team’s new innovative car “R31” scored impressive results during the pre-season test sessions. The team boss Eric Boullier has stated that he is satisfied with Nick Heidfeld’s performance since he was named as the replacement for Robert Kubica who went
through a terrible accident during a rally event in early 2011.
Heidfeld is confident about his team’s run in the new season.
“Naturally it [winning] would be beautiful. It will happen if the car is good enough. The test phase was good for us, but we don't know whether it has been enough to win races,” Heidfeld told the media.
Even though the German is satisfied with the team’s new car, he criticised the new rules as the drivers now have to do a lot of work on the steering wheel. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) reintroduced Kinetic Energy Recovery System and adjustable
rear wings for the 2011 season in order to increase the overtaking rate in the sport and make it more interesting.
However, Nick stated that it is like “playing a piano” in the cockpit for the drivers since the workload has increased immensely mainly due to the control of the new devices.
Other than him, the 2010 Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has listed a drivers’ strike as a possible repercussion if the authorities do not listen to the Grand Prix Drivers Association’s plea. However, Nico Rosberg of Mercedes GP has stated that
the new rules were a “positive move.”
“We have to keep in mind that, under certain circumstances, there is a safety risk in principle. But I think that the adjustable rear wing for overtaking is right,” Rosberg told the media.
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