Nick Heidfeld has admitted he did some "intensive soul searching" before replacing Robert Kubica at Renault.
Heidfeld was announced as Kubica's replacement last week, after the Pole suffered serious injuries in a rally accident earlier this month. He said the decision to step in for Kubica had taken some serious consideration due to the delicate nature of the situation.
"I did some intensive soul searching - probably more intensive than most others would have done - and now I would say that I have cleared the situation for myself," he said. "It was not my fault what happened to Robert and I truly wish he'll be back soon - that is one side. The other is that I had to grab the opportunity and feel happy to be driving again."
On his first day in the R31 Heidfeld topped the timesheets - as Kubica had on the last day at Valencia - but he suspects the Renault is still lagging behind the front runners.
"Probably after Robert's fastest time in Valencia and mine in Jerez the expectations were a bit too high," he told the official Formula One website. "It is still difficult to say where everybody is, but my guess is that there are still some teams ahead of us - especially Red Bull. But it is a good basis to build on."
Heidfled said he has not joined Renault as team-mate Vitaly Petrov's superior, but is expecting to come out on top.
"That is not my goal," he added. "I just want to get the best and the maximum out of a situation and everything else will fall into place, like probably being the No. 1 in the team. Clearly this is the goal, but no concentration is going into it because that would tie up too much energy that could be used better somewhere else."
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