Nick Heidfeld claimed his podium in the first race of the 2017-18 season was one of his “most disappointing career podiums ever”.
After starting third, Heidfeld survived a chaotic opening lap to take the challenge to Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne in second.
The Mahindra racer spent the entire second stint battling with Vergne, getting very close to the Techeetah on a number of occasions. Heidfeld couldn’t find a way through, though, and had to settle for third.
“I had a perfect launch off the line, and a very quick pitstop resulting in a strong podium position but, possibly, it was one of my most disappointing career podiums ever,” he said.
“I had a quick car, but Jean-Eric Vergne did some solid defending in front of me and, although I pushed to the limit, I couldn’t quite make it past him.”
The opening race of the season was more positive than Sunday’s event, however.
Starting further back in the second race of the weekend, Heidfeld was held up on the opening lap as team-mate Felix Rosenqvist tried to rejoin the action. He dropped even further back when a technical problem caused him to stop on circuit and he finished outside the points.
Heidfeld remains positive though, as Mahindra is top of the teams’ championship by three points. He believes the squad will be able to continue to challenge throughout the remainder of the season.
“The positive thing to take away is that we have a car that is really good and quick, and we have 12 more races ahead of us, so we can make them count.”
He leaves Hong Kong sixth in the championship with 15 points.
