Heidfeld Insists Renault Called Him for Job

Nick Heidfeld made it very clear that he didn't chase Robert Kubica's racing seat at Renault at any point after the Polish driver had suffered his serious crash in Italy two weekends ago. According to him, some drivers out there started making phone calls as soon as it was confirmed that Kubica will miss the 2011 season, while he was in fact contacted by Renault and not the other way around.

“I want to point out that the team contacted me, and not vice versa,” said Heidfeld in a recent interview with Formula 1's official website. “I know that some drivers contacted the team.”

Heidfeld then explained his feeling when hearing about the potential serious injury sustained by his former BMW colleague. And he was honest about it too, as he admitted having thought that a serious injury might get him back onto the F1 grid for 2011.

“The first news was that I saw on the internet that Robert had an accident in Italy last Sunday. First, the talk was that he had injured his leg [and my] first thought, of course, was that I hoped that it is not too bad. The second thought then was probably I could step in for him.”

“I was locked into the internet to find out what was going on and the real unhappy aspect was that, if it is worse for him, it could be better for me. This is a very oppressive feeling. You don't want anything bad for someone [but], on the other hand, it can mean a real chance for yourself.”

The rest of it is history, as you all know it, as Heidfeld has been invited to test the Renault R31 at Jerez over the weekend and actually managed to top the timing reports on Saturday. Recent reports, citing sources from within the Lotus Renault GP team, have hinted that Heidfeld will almost certainly be confirmed as the team's replacement for Kubica this week.