Officially Official: Heidfeld to fill Kubica's seat at Lotus Renault GP

[Haltech]

Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Lotus, Renault



Filling the proverbial shoes of Robert Kubica is no easy task. The grand prix winner - one of only 102 in history - is the first Polish driver to make it in Formula One, and he is rated as one of the best in the business. Fill his space, though, is exactly what Renault has had to do after Kubica's unfortunate crash in an Italian rally left him severely - if not critically - injured. But if anyone's up to the task, it's Nick Heidfeld.

The two were former teammates for several years at Sauber, and for his part, Heidfeld has finished more races than any other driver on or off the grid. He's also become the de facto go-to guy for outfits who need an experienced driver to step in post-haste, having been selected by Pirelli to test their new F1 tires and then brought back to Sauber when Pedro de la Rosa wasn't working out last season.

Having tested Heidfeld at its recent Jerez session, the Lotus Renault GP team has announced that they've selected the German driver to take Kubica's place until he's able to return to racing. Heidfeld's selection wins out over Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean, both of which also have race experience (albeit considerably less) and are contracted members of the team's test-driver roster.

After stints at Prost, Sauber, Jordan and Williams - to say nothing of McLaren and Mercedes GP where he's served as a test driver - Renault will make the fifth team for which Heidfeld will now have driven over the course of the eleven consecutive years he's now been on the grid since his debut at the 2000 Australian Grand Prix. His best result to date was the fifth place finish he scored at Sauber in the 2007 Championship and his eight second-place grand prix finishes. Follow the jump for the official announcement.

[Source: Renault]Continue reading Officially Official: Heidfeld to fill Kubica's seat at Lotus Renault GP

Officially Official: Heidfeld to fill Kubica's seat at Lotus Renault GP originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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