• Mercedes

No regrets from sidelined Heidfeld

Nick Heidfeld insists he has no regrets, despite having to sit out the 2010 season on the sidelines.

After gambling on securing a competitive race seat, Heidfeld, who arrived in Bahrain on Thursday, has had to settle for the reserve role at Mercedes GP.

And amid much criticism of F1's three uncompetitive new teams, Heidfeld said: "I stand by my decision to be here at Mercedes rather than standing still at the back."

Timo Glock, who has moved from the departed Toyota to Virgin, tried to quieten some of the criticism of the new teams including Lotus and HRT.

"I think some people have forgotten the difficult times until very recently in F1. We have only two manufacturers still here. The other teams should be happy and grateful that we are making up the field.

Lotus' Heikki Kovalainen, at McLaren for the past two seasons, said the row about four-second gaps and dangerous closing speeds is just noise.

"It doesn't matter whether it is one and a half or four seconds," he said. "The drivers should be able to control their cars."

Kovalainen has topped one timesheet in Bahrain. In the FIA test on Thursday to prove a driver can get out of his car within five seconds, he leapt out of the green T127 and replaced the steering wheel in a record 3.4 seconds.

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