BMW-Sauber team boss Mario Theissen has acknowledged that Nick Heidfeld’s poor qualifying performance at Monaco has only added to the pressure on the struggling German driver.

While teammate Robert Kubica will line up fifth on Sunday’s grid, 31-year-old Heidfeld was a full second slower as he dropped out in the ‘Q2′ round.

“Of course it is disappointing,” Theissen, who is believed to have penned a new two-season contract with Heidfeld last year, is quoted as saying by the German newspaper Bild.

Heidfeld will start the race from the distant seventh row.

Theissen added: “Nick has said that the tyres are really not working for him here.

“But, naturally, everybody must make his contribution, so I hope he can get out of this slump.”

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