F1's renaissance man Nick Heidfeld comes within just half a second of registering his third podium finish in four races, courtesy of a strong performance for BMW-Sauber in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

Nick Heidfeld has continued to prove that he is well-and-truly on the comeback trail following a trying start to the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship campaign - by coming within a whisker of a podium finish in his home grand prix this weekend after setting the fastest lap on his drive up the order.

Though the experienced German once again failed to make the grade in qualifying - falling at the Q3 hurdle for the third time this season and being out-performed by team-mate Robert Kubica for the ninth time in ten races - he produced strong race form to run a long opening stint and benefit from the timing of the mid-race safety car to haul himself up into second position.

Once the safety car had disappeared once more, the 31-year-old's pace was quick enough to see him regain the track following his late second pit-stop in fourth spot, and he would go on to chase down Ferrari's Felipe Massa for the final podium position over the closing laps, albeit never quite getting close enough to launch a challenge.

"Coming fourth from twelfth on the grid is a great result," the man from Mönchengladbach enthused afterwards, having closed the gap separating him from fourth-placed Kubica in the drivers' standings by a further three points to just seven. "Not making it into the top ten in qualifying meant we were free to choose our fuel load afterwards, so we went for a rather long first stint.

"That's why I was able to stay out during the safety car period when almost everybody else was refuelling. That was certainly crucial, as I was able to pull away as soon as the traffic was behind me. Before that I couldn't show my true speed as I never had a clear lap.

"The car was good and the fact that I set the fastest race lap proves it. In the end I was very close to Felipe, but still had no chance to overtake him. It was a good home race for me, and I'm happy I could give something back to the fans who may have been disappointed by my qualifying performance yesterday."

Kubica, for his part, endured a rather more anonymous race after a lightning start that saw him gain three positions. The former championship-leading Pole came off worst in brief battles with both reigning F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren-Mercedes' Heikki Kovalainen, on his way to taking the chequered flag in exactly the same place in which he had started - seventh.

"It is difficult to be happy after a race like this," the 23-year-old admitted. "During the first half of the race I was able to match the pace of McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari, [then] suddenly my car's pace was miles too slow. My tyres lost lots of grip, and perhaps this was because they cooled down too much. We now have to analyse the data."

Whilst professing himself pleased with the points haul that narrowly keeps the squad second in the constructors' table, BMW Motorsport Director Dr Mario Theissen acknowledged that the Munich and Hinwil-based concern has fallen some way behind both McLaren and Ferrari in the mid-season push - and insisted there would be plenty of hard work ahead in an effort to catch them up again.

"If you start from seventh and twelfth on the grid and end up collecting seven points you can be very satisfied," the German underlined. "Of course the safety car period influenced the race quite a lot. Due to that Robert lost his strong fourth place, whereas Nick profited from this.

"Neither of our drivers made any mistakes. On top of that Nick set the fastest lap, which makes me very happy for him. However, there is some work for us to do to get back to the front of the grid."

"This was an exciting and thrilling race for our team," added BMW-Sauber technical director Willy Rampf. "Robert made a good start and was able to move up to fourth in the first corners. He was able to consolidate this position, but in the safety car period his strategy meant we had to bring him in for a pit-stop.

"Nick was on a higher fuel load and, therefore, could stay out. When the safety car came in again, Nick drove several very fast laps and was able to make up time on his direct competitors. In addition, the pit crew did a perfect job which enabled him to also overtake Heikki Kovalainen in the pits.

"Robert was struggling with the heavy car and warming up the prime tyres properly, so as a result was not in a position to set the best possible lap times anymore. We can be pleased we scored seven championship points today under difficult circumstances."