Nick Heidfeld - the quiet man's time to shine?
by Matt Briggstone on Feb 21st, 2011Badger's Matt Briggstone has been taking a look at what made Nick Heidfeld's signing such a no-brainer for the Renault team.
He may look like a low budget Benny Andersson impersonator but Nick Heidfeld isn’t too bad behind the wheel of a racing car, although you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise given the reaction when it was announced that he would be the man to stand in for Robert Kubica. A few fans seemed uninspired by Renault’s choice but “Nice Nick” is more than just a safe pair of hands.
Take a glance at his decade in Formula One and it is easy to see why his selection didn’t really set the pulse racing – he holds the records for most career championship points without a win, the most podiums without a win and the most second place finishes without a win. Those statistics won’t be welcome on any drivers’ CV but they don’t tell the whole story.
With the exception of a season or two at BMW Sauber he was rarely in a car capable of competing at the sharp end of the grid but when in a battle with drivers in equivalent machinery he was a force to be reckoned with. Few team mates have ever got the better of Nick Heidfeld.
In his second season he joined Sauber and was paired up alongside the then debutant Kimi Raikkonen. Nick picked up 12 points to Kimi’s 9. The next season he was again joined by a young rookie, this time Felipe Massa. Once again he outperformed his team mate. In 2005 he moved to Williams and dominated Mark Webber until a testing accident ended his season prematurely. He did similar in 2006 and 2007, beating Jacques Villeneuve and Robert Kubica over the course of a year. The list of drivers he has made his number two reads like a who’s who of modern day F1’s great and good.
With that in mind it’s much more understandable why Renault took a punt on the man from Monchengladbach, especially when you consider how limited their options are. No amount of money or wishful thinking is going to see Kimi jack in the World Rally Championship to return to Formula One at such short notice and Tonio Liuzzi’s struggles at Force India over the past few years aren’t the most convincing advert that he has the talent necessary to lead the team, regardless of how highly he is rated by the man he would be replacing.
Of course the romantics amongst us would’ve liked to see that famous yellow helmet in a JPS liveried motor but Bruno Senna lacks the experience and the speed to make him a viable replacement for Kubica. It is hard to see how he’d fit into the driving line up anyway considering Vitaly Petrov has the monopoly on silly crashes within the team. The more you look at it the clearer it becomes that Heidfeld isn’t just the best option, but he’s the only option.
It may be a bit much to expect Nick to lead a Renault title charge but if anyone is capable of confounding expectations it’s him. In recent seasons he has made it his trademark to drag his car over the line come hell or high water, stringing together a run of 41 consecutive race finishes between 2007 and 2009 but it wasn’t always that way. When he first stepped into an F1 car he could barely reach the chequered flag. Maybe, just maybe, at the not-so tender age of 33 he’ll suddenly find himself at the front of the field? Then this selection will look more inspired than insipid.
Comments and Discussion
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And yes. *nods emphatically*
While i'm an unabashed Heidfeld supporter, i could never see the logic in putting an unproven driver into a potentially (at this stage) race-winning car. Granted, there weren't many available drivers to choose from for the team anyway, but it's ridiculous how Nick always finds himself on the sidelines when he's more talented than at least half the current F1 field.
Type "Nick Heidfeld" into Youtube search and one of the first vids that comes up is entitled "Nick Heidfeld Best Overtaking Moves". Watch that and then tell me Senna would be a better bet.
When it comes to getting past stuff, Nick is a driver you can mention in the same breath as Hamilton, Alonso and Kobayashi.
In the modern age, is that not want people want? Over the past few seasons measures have been taken to "improve overtaking". They've have all been mostly pointless because overtaking's always been possible, it's just the drivers who are capable of making it happen are few and far between.
Nick deserves a front-running car, an opportunity to steal the limelight instead of being pushed behind a "potential star" team-mate who he was beating.
I hope this year's Renault is at least as good as the team appear to believe it is and Nick gets his chance, not only to win but to secure his right to be on the grid for many years to come.
"He's more talented than at least half the current F1 field."
A bold statement but one I am inclined to agree with, Dave.
Not sure how you define "dominated" but Webber out qualified Heidfeld 9-5 in the races they both competed in, yes Nick was ahead 28-24 in points but in the races they both completed, the score was 3-3 in who finished above who.
I think Nick has had a hard time of it in F1, sidelined so many times and out of a drive regularly but the fact he has been but then found a way back in shows his worth. I don't agree that he dominated Webber or beat Kubica (maybe in points but that doesn’t tell the full story) but he has beaten many other top drivers and certainly was 95% as good as Kubica who I reckon is one of the top 3 drivers today. I really want Robert to make it back this year but I think Lotus-Renault may have a difficult decision to make, Nick will be up there probably winning races with a big points tally, would Lotus-Renault put Robert back in his seat when he is way ahead of Petrov in the Championship? I don’t know what agreement they have with Petrov but I would like to see Heidfeld stay when Kubica returns and replaces Petrov.
I can understand why Kubica would want Liuzzi to stand in, I can’t imagine Luizzi wining any races and Kubica would push the Renault 3-4 places up the gird in qualifying when he returns, I can’t see there being a massive jump in performance for the team if Kubica is replacing Heidfled which would not look as good on Kubica!
I think Nick is under rated and a fine driver but "up there probably winning races with a big points tally" ... seems optimistic to be honest.