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Nick Heidfeld: The overtaking master
By BMW Sauber F1 Team July 8 2008
Several times this year, Nick Heidfeld has demonstrated that he is one of the best drivers on the Formula One grid when it comes to overtaking. At Silverstone, the 31-year old passed two of his rivals at a time - twice. .

In Malaysia, Nick surely made one of the most spectacular moves of the season when passing Red Bull's David Coulthard and Renault's Fernando Alonso simultaneously while braking into the hairpin. At Silverstone, he repeated this feat twice in Woodcote - for the first time on lap 23 and again on lap 27.

"Right after my first pit stop, I was able to pass Timo Glock and Fernando Alonso simultaneously," says Nick. "Some laps later, I did the same with Kimi Räikkönen and Heikki Kovalainen. It goes without saying that doing so was great fun."

The manoeuvres may have looked easy to spectators but a driver must be extremely focused and display a lot of fighting spirit and the ability to anticipate a situation if he wants to successfully execute such a move. "When it comes to overtaking, you have to anticipate what the other two drivers will do: how the driver right in front of you will attack and what the guy ahead of him might possibly do to fend off his opponent," says Nick. "Then, you can be in the right position in the right point in time."

At Silverstone, Nick successfully did so several times - and was rewarded with a runner-up finish and eight valuable World Championship points. Following some difficult race weekends, the German proved in impressive style that he is back - just in time for his home race at Hockenheim.

 

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