Heidfeld set to fight Renault exit

Nick Heidfeld is set to fight to keep his drive with Renault after reports that the team is looking to replace him with test driver Bruno Senna from this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

The BBC broke the news on Monday evening that Heidfeld's time with the Enstone-based team is set to come to an end, with suggestions that a desire to bring in extra finances could be partly behind the decision to promote Senna - who drove in Friday practice in Hungary - into a race seat.

Having been called into the team as a replacement for Robert Kubica after the Pole was injured in a rally accident back in February, Heidfeld scored a podium finish in just his second outing for the team with a solid run to third in Malaysia.

However, since then, the German has added just 19 more points to his tally and hasn't finished higher than seventh - leading to criticism from Renault team bosses despite the fact that the former Jordan and BMW driver has outscored team-mate Vitaly Petrov.

While there has yet to be any official comment from Renault on the speculation, the Daily Telegraph reports that Heidfeld will use legal channels to try and hang on to his seat with the team given the limited options that would be available to him elsewhere in the paddock.

Should Senna be promoted into a race seat, it is likely to be a short term arrangement with Kubica working to regain fitness and GP2 runner Romain Grosjean having been linked with a return if the Pole proves unable to make a comeback.