Heidfeld: I have a valid contract

Nick Heidfeld has revealed that a hearing will take place in three weeks time after he took action to prevent Renault replacing him with Bruno Senna.

The team confirmed that Senna will race in the events at Spa and Monza today [Thursday] while also insisting it was keen to run the Brazilian for the rest of the season, pending some 'legal issues' which are still to be resolved.

Those issues revolve around what to do with Heidfeld, who remains under contract to the team and had already said he wasn't prepared to just walk away.

Having appeared in the Spa paddock, the German faced questions from the press but refused to say much about the situation because legal proceedings have now started.

"There are court proceedings so I cannot tell you much," he was quoted by former ITV-F1 commentator James Allen on his website, JamesallenonF1.com. "Each driver wants to drive. I believe that I have a valid contract and I want to drive.

"We will see in three weeks, there is a main hearing and we will know then. I'm here with the team this weekend, I have a contract and I will just do what I can do."

Should he be forced out of his role with Renault, Heidfeld could find his F1 career at an end given the limited options available elsewhere.

Having joined the team at the start of the year as a replacement for Robert Kubica, the German scored a fine third place finish in Malaysia but has only just managed to double his points tally through the nine races that have followed, although he does sit ahead ahead of Vitaly Petrov in the championship standings.