• Kubica injury

Renault to 'evaluate' Heidfeld in testing

Reanult said it will "evaluate Nick Heidfeld, who is a potential replacement for Robert Kubica" © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Nick Heidfeld
• |
• Robert Kubica

• Teams:
• Renault

Nick Heidfeld will test Renault's new R31 car at Jerez this week in the absence of Robert Kubica.

It had been speculated that Heidfeld, 33, who had yet to secure a role in F1 for the 2011 season, was a leading contender to replace his injured former BMW team-mate Kubica.

With Kubica in an Italian hospital with serious injuries following a rally crash, another change to Renault's Jerez test schedule is that reserve driver Bruno Senna will be testing this week. Vitaly Petrov will drive on Thursday and Friday, before Heidfeld and Senna get mileage on the next two days.

"The exact running order for the weekend will be confirmed on Friday evening," said the Lotus-sponsored team in a statement.

Renault clarified that Heidfeld, with more than 170 grands prix under his belt but no wins, has not yet been definitely appointed as Kubica's substitute. Instead, the team said it will "evaluate Heidfeld, who is a potential replacement for Kubica as a race driver".

However, a Renault source told Bild: "[Vitaly] Petrov is relatively inexperienced. In order to exhaust the full potential of the car, we definitely need a strong and experienced man. And the team has already been talking with Heidfeld in the past years."

Team owner Gerard Lopez added: "We all know that Nick is rather good, but we don't know what level he is in now, we don't know how he does with our car. Same goes for Tonio Liuzzi, same goes - I don't know - for Bruno Senna, who last year was in a team with a car that could do nothing," said Lopez.

Nico Hulkenberg's manager Willi Weber, however, is convinced: "Nick Heidfeld is going to race," he told Auto Motor und Sport.

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