BMW hail breakthrough for Heidfeld

By Alan Baldwin

SILVERSTONE (Reuters) - BMW Sauber hailed Germany's Nick Heidfeld on Sunday after he put recent problems behind him to finish second at the British Grand Prix.

"I'm delighted for Nick. it's the sort of weekend we've known from him from the past," said team boss Mario Theissen.

"It's a liberating breakthrough for him. He showed in the qualifying yesterday that he is capable of mixing it up near the top.

"He didn't go off the track at all today. He stayed in control throughout the race and had two spectacular overtaking manoeuvres," added Theissen.

"He did everything right."

Heidfeld has struggled this season while Polish team mate Robert Kubica has seized the limelight, winning in Canada and leading the championship last month.

For the first time this season however, Heidfeld outqualified the Pole and for once reaped the rewards for being kinder on his tyres as well as the team making the right choices.

The German also pulled off one of the overtaking moves of the race, passing both Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen in one sweep in a determined push for the podium.