Mercedes rumors suggest that Heidfeld will not be a test driver

Mercedes is conducting negotiations to identify the reserve driver for the season that is about to begin.
Before returning to racing with Sauber, Nick Heidfeld had started 2010 as the third driver at Mercedes, but the head of marketing for the Stuttgart company, Joachim Schmidt, said that this year a non-German driver would be more welcome.

“We already have two German drivers. We are currently talking to various candidates,” Schmidt told the Bietigheimer Zeitung newspaper.
Mercedes had a difficult year in 2010, the first season without the partnership with McLaren, but Schmidt pointed out: “Our financial burden is clearly lower than what we had when we collaborated with McLaren. For us, due to advertising returns and FOM money, it is economically more interesting than before. For this reason, we have the support of our workforce regarding hiring in the Formula 1 program."

Filippo Ronchetti