Heidfeld goes on the attack against Lotus Renault GP

As Lotus Renault GP has officially appointed Bruno Senna in place of Nick Heidfeld for the next two Grand Prix, F1 observers were surprised to see the German driver walking around the Spa paddock in the official attire of the team based in Enstone. Nick Heidfeld intends to assert his rights as a legal procedure has been initiated and LRGP could not confirm the Brazilian’s appointment beyond the Italian Grand Prix, with legal issues remaining to be resolved.

Earlier in the week, the Daily Telegraph claimed that Nick Heidfeld’s camp was considering legal action against Lotus Renault GP, which was confirmed on Thursday by the driver himself: “There is a procedure ongoing so I can’t say much. Every driver wants to race. I believe I have a valid contract so I want to race. We will see in three weeks [editor’s note: after the Italian Grand Prix], there will be a hearing and we will know more. This weekend, I am here with the team, I have a contract and I will just do what I can do,” said Quick Nick.

Thursday evening, Nick Heidfeld’s lawyer, Stefan Seitz, confirmed that proceedings had been initiated and that the court had already been called upon to rule: « The interim judgment does not contradict the fact that Nick has a valid contract to be one of the team’s two main drivers. This position is contested by the team for apparently purely financial reasons. We will continue our efforts to have Nick Heidfeld reinstated in his rights. »

For his part, André Theuerzeit, Nick Heidfeld’s agent, did not hide his displeasure: « I am disappointed that the team is allowed to give Nick’s seat to another driver for the upcoming weekends. However, I am firmly convinced that we will be able to find a fair solution for Nick in the upcoming procedures. We all hope he will be back in his seat in Singapore. »

The German is therefore determined to regain his position as a full-time driver for the British team or at least a fair solution as his manager says. The presence of the Lotus driver, in official attire, in the paddock is therefore not surprising, as Nick Heidfeld wants to show that, unlike his team, he respects the terms of his contract, which could be important at the next hearing.

__________

* “An ‘interlocutory decision of the court’, translated here as ‘jugement en référé’, is a judicial decision aimed at defining and guaranteeing the rights of the concerned parties, within a relatively short period, before the substantive issues are discussed at a later hearing.”