BMW modify wayward wheel nut

(GMM) Nick Heidfeld said in Monaco on Wednesday that BMW-Sauber has modified the design of its wheel nuts in order to prevent a recurrence of his botched pit stop in the recent Spanish grand prix.

"That should help," the German, who did a full lap of the Catalunya circuit without a nut on his right front wheel a fortnight ago, told reporters.

Heidfeld, who said similar scenarios are now practiced by the pit stop crew, continued: "I said two weeks ago that it should not have happened, and it probably will not happen again. But if the same thing does happen again then we think we are now much better prepared."

Heidfeld also said that he felt Ferrari was "definitely" more likely to win Sunday's race than McLaren, despite the Italian team's failure to win here since 2001.

"Yes we are in Monaco but I don't think the situation will be very different," the 30-year-old said, explaining that he would put Ferrari's Felipe Massa "at the top of my list" for potential 2007 title winners.

"At the moment Ferrari has a slightly faster car than McLaren and Felipe is quite clearly happier with his car than Kimi (Raikkonen)."