Lotus Renault GP team boss Eric Boullier has admitted that it will be ‘tough’ to prepare Nick Heidfeld's car in time for qualifying this afternoon. The German driver’s R31 was engulfed by flames after the high-speed Turn 9, with the fire now being attributed to an exhaust problem.
"I hope so, the problem with a fire is there is always some uncertainty about damage on the loom or stuff like this," Boullier told BBC Sport. "We have to be safe, it’s qualifying and after this Parc Ferme so we are changing as much as possible. So we will see, I think it’s going to be tough.
When asked if the problem was due to an oil or fuel leak, Boullier replied: "No, no, not at all. It was just an exhaust crack problem and that caught on fire."
The Saturday morning fire can be viewed below:
Series
Formula 1
Personalities
Nick Heidfeld
Eric Boullier
Teams
Lotus Renault
Other
Get your official Formula 1 tickets at Sportstadium.com
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:21.707 | 6 |
| 2. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 01:21.791 | 17 |
| 3. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:23.057 | 16 |
| 4. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 01:23.068 | 13 |
| 5. | J. Button | McLaren | 01:23.214 | 14 |
| 6. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:23.397 | 18 |
| 7. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 01:23.669 | 17 |
| 8. | V. Petrov | Lotus Renault | 01:24.043 | 18 |
| 9. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 01:24.270 | 11 |
| 10. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 01:24.318 | 18 |
| Full results | ||||
| Eric Boullier | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| More Eric Boullier photos | |||
| Nick Heidfeld | |||
 |  |  |  |
| More Nick Heidfeld photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
