The last two races of the 2006 season, Australia and San Marino, have shown how crucial it is for the team’s to make optimum use of their chosen tyres so as to exploit the full potential of the cars. The Nurburgring track, home to round five next weekend, offers plenty of grip, and rubber wear isn’t too extreme, which means that the BMW Sauber team will be using a relatively soft Michelin compound.

Cars tend to suffer understeer on this track, and that will be the main consideration when it comes to the car’s set-up. It can be offset by the right aero balance or through mechanical modifications. In preparation the team have been working on this during testing at Silverstone last week as in view of the close competition in the middle of the field at the moment, everything has to be just right, especially if they want to achieve a good position on the grid.

For Nick Heidfeld, the coming event signifies his home race and therefore it will be somewhat special and he is hoping that home support will help give him that extra edge over the weekend and score some strong results come Sunday afternoon.

“Driving on the Nürburgring is always something very special for me. The race is my personal home grand prix. The Ring is the circuit nearest to Mönchengladbach, where I was born and grew up. As a three-year-old I learnt to ride a bike on the Nürburgring. My father used to take me and my two brothers to the Ring quite often, and in winter we even went tobogganing on the Nordschleife,” he said.

“At the age of eight I had my first go-kart experience on the Nürburgring – great childhood memories. I’ve also done a lot of races on the Nürburgring – in Formula Ford, Formula 3, Formula 3000 and, ultimately, Formula One. I’ve really enjoyed every single race in the Eifel and also won a few. Last year I gained my first ever Formula One pole position there and came second in the race. Of course that kind of success before a home crowd was fantastic. I don’t feel my home race puts unwanted pressure on me in the least. On the contrary, I’m really looking forward to the support I’ll get there. Nowhere else will I see so many fans.”