Formula 1

European GP: Sauber Saturday qualifying notes

Nick Heidfeld and Heinz-Harald Frentzen will start tomorrow's European Grand Prix in 20th and 15th places respectively after the second qualifying session. Nick Heidfeld: "I have to say a big 'thank you' to my crew after they changed the engine ...

Published: Jun 28, 2003, 6:41 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Nick Heidfeld and Heinz-Harald Frentzen will start tomorrow's European Grand Prix in 20th and 15th places respectively after the second qualifying session.

Nick Heidfeld:

"I have to say a big 'thank you' to my crew after they changed the engine in very little time just before the qualifying session. That was a fantastic achievement! Unfortunately, I then suffered from a technical problem with the downshift while braking for the first corner, so I didn't have a chance to make it."

Heinz-Harald Frentzen:

"I had to change to the T-car just before the qualifying. We didn't have the chance to set it up properly and I had quite a lot of understeer. But with my result we are not far away from our target for tomorrow. It's a shame for Nick. I wish we had two T-cars available!"

Peter Sauber (Team Principal):

"Today required strong nerves! After two engine problems in the warm-up, the causes of which we are still analysing, Nick's car needed an engine change and Heinz-Harald had to switch to the T-car. Due to the new regulations it's not allowed anymore to do an installation lap with the T-car. Under those circumstance Heinz-Harald's result is gratifying."

"In Nick's case we had to achieve the impossible task of changing the engine in 32 minutes. Already after 25 minutes we were able to fire it, and after 28 Nick was ready to go. This was fantastic, and a very impressive achievement. My sincere compliments to our mechanics - if only everything would go that well! Unfortunately Nick wasn't able to exploit this excellent work as an as-yet undefined hydraulic downshift problem was responsible for his spin in the first corner."

Driver (Chassis)
Heidfeld (C22-02)
No time, 20th

Frentzen (C22-03)
1:34.000s, 15th
Spare (C22-01)

-sauber-

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Panis top in final European GP practices

Next article European GP: Williams Saturday qualifying notes

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

AJ Foyt Racing signs Josh Pierson to multi-year deal beginning with 2027 IndyCar season

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 27 min

AJ Foyt Racing signs Josh Pierson to multi-year deal beginning with 2027 IndyCar season

Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle named co-winners of Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 1 h

Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle named co-winners of Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award

NASCAR makes amends for 2004 Dale Earnhardt Jr. swearing fine

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Talladega II

1 h

NASCAR makes amends for 2004 Dale Earnhardt Jr. swearing fine

Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

1 h

Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP

Feature

Discover prime content

The one aspect of the 2026 US GP that should be a blueprint for F1 2027

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

The one aspect of the 2026 US GP that should be a blueprint for F1 2027

A strategic masterclass: How Kimi Antonelli put himself on the cusp of F1 title at the US GP

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

A strategic masterclass: How Kimi Antonelli put himself on the cusp of F1 title at the US GP

How Verstappen and Antonelli were both “surprised” in United States GP qualifying

Formula 1

United States GP

By Stuart Codling

How Verstappen and Antonelli were both “surprised” in United States GP qualifying

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 United States GP

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 United States GP

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts