No problem with extreme conditions - Heidfeld

The Malaysian Grand Prix is the first truly hot race of the season. For this reason, Nick Heidfeld travelled to South-East Asia earlier than usual in order to acclimatise to the tropical conditions. The BMW Sauber F1 Team driver talks about the second race of the world championship and his prepartions for the event in Sepang.

"So far I've never really had a problem with racing in the heat," said Heidfeld. "But it is good to take some time to acclimatise to the conditons, especially as the humidity takes a bit of getting used to for us central Europeans. I arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, and our test was very helpful. I think we're in pretty good shape for the race and hope that we can get both cars to the finish this time."

Due to its equatorial location, Malaysia's climate is tropical. Extreme heat can envolve into torrential monsoon rainfall in a matter of moments. Therefore, the track conditions are virtually impossible to predict, which is why teams must be able to adapt their strategy to the changing conditions.

Nick is known as an experienced 'rain driver' and he looks forward to the challenge: "I've experienced some incredible downpours before in Sepang," the German driver comments. "Driving in the rain always holds an element of risk due to the lack of visibility - even more so here, where the rain is far from normal. When the heavens open, everything disappears under water in no time. But I'm still a fan of wet weather. It's a lot of fun hanging on to 700 horsepower in these conditions. Either way, I've always got on quite well in Malaysia. And that includes 2006, even though a problem with the car cost me fifth place shortly before the finish."