Heidfeld happy with testing programme

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Nick Heidfeld has spoken positively about the opening test sessions of season three and sees the changes to the Mahindra as a step in the right direction.

The German has shown some promising pace, having been consistently within the top ten and finishing Thursday morning second fastest.

With the powertrain improved for season three, Heidfeld believes the team is heading in the right direction to be a consistent front runner.

“Quite positive, especially with what the team achieved before this test here, we had some big changes and plans for season three in terms of what we changed from the powertrain side,” explained Heidfeld. “If I look at the rear end and the design it looks very nice.

“Testing before here has gone quite well, we did a lot of kilometres, so until this point I was very happy but the big question is always what does the competition do? This is the first time here in Donington that we see the competition and again it’s not easy to judge it because we don’t know if they are pushing flat out or trying special setups for Donington, it’s not a representative circuit for Formula E standards, as we will have a lot more bumps and tighter corners and so on.

“We’ve frequently been at the front of the pack, not leading, but quite far forward, so it looks ok but we will have to wait until the first race at least to know where we stand.”

While showing strong pace throughout the week, Heidfeld doesn’t see much advantage to the new front wing design other than possibly being more resistant in an impact.

“Not much of an effect. We were playing with it yesterday to understand how to set it up and find the right balance but there’s not much in it from a driving or setup perspective, maybe it could get more interesting during the season to see how strong the front wings are. If we hit a bollard last year we would have the front wing falling to pieces, maybe it’s stronger now when we have crashes, this will be interesting to see in the season.”

The 39-year-old finished by praising his new team mate Felix Rosenqvist and believes the pairing can help push the team forward.

“He’s settled in very well, he did some testing before coming here. Obviously he’s been very successful in different series, like Formula 3. What impresses me more is that he won Macau twice, for me it is one of the best circuits in the world and one of the most challenging ones.

This is hopefully a good indicator for Formula E as we go to similar street circuits all the time. He’s been quick here, yesterday and today, so it’s good to have him on board and hopefully we’ll get some strong results together.”

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Images courtesy of Rajan Jangda

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