Nick Heidfeld has revealed that he rejected other offers to race in sports cars this year before signing for Rebellion Racing.
The Formula 1 veteran was confirmed last week as part of the team's LMP1 lineup for selected events in the new World Endurance Championship, including the Le Mans 24 Hours. The German admitted that he had been in contact with other sports car teams over the winter, but he felt that Rebellion would be the best place to get accustomed to endurance racing.
"Yes, I was in contact with a few LMP1 teams," said Heidfeld when asked if there were any talks with factory squads. "The contact with Rebellion came through [engineer] James Robinson, who I worked with at Jordan. "He was with Rebellion last year and I approached him to simply see how he likes the racing. I then met with the team owner Alex Pesci, and we quickly moved forward.
"I think working with the best privateer team from 2011 gives me an ideal starting point to put a foot into sports car racing to learn and compete."
Heidfeld played down the chance of him using the Rebellion drive to pave the way for a move to a factory team in the future.
"I think it would be impolite to join a team and then say you want to move to another," he added. "I am open to see what the future holds and, for now, I am looking forward to my races with Rebellion."