Last-second call works for Heidfeld
Just after the Malaysian Grand Prix, BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Nick Heidfeld admitted that hte had made the wrong tyre choice despite being the only driver top pit only one time. Heidfeld collected the first points for his team this season by finishing in second position.
Heidfeld had started from 10th place and pitted for extremes when the rain began to fall. The track, however, was not wet enough the other drivers pitted again for intermediates before a downpour hit the track. The Germand said that he came within seconds of pitting again, but he made a last-second call and stayed on track, a decision that paid off in the end.
'Quick Nick' said: "It was a very difficult choice in these conditions. We didn't have a perfect tyre choice. I went straight to extremes as normally it's heavy rainfall here. Then the team told me heavy rain was expected, and I told them inters would be a lot quicker now. Just as they told me to pit, it started to rain heavier.
"I was actually just 200 metres from the pit area and I said 'no, no, I'll stay out, it's starting to rain more heavily'. As I'd tried to preserve my tyres in the beginning, some other guys were quicker than me on the extreme wets, but I knew if the rain started then hopefully I could stay out.
"That worked, but still my rear tyres were destroyed completely and were basically slicks, and when it started to rain I just tried to stay on the circuit."
