Is Nick Heidfeld making the best out of his third chance?

[PlatinumZealot]

Nick Heidfeld has effectively gotten a THIRD try at the wheel in Formula 1. His yawn inducing first stint in F1 took him up to 2009 at Sauber where he was given the Sauber F1.09 as a retirement gift and craned out to parc ferme for the Christmas.

He had a second shot in 2010 when he was again employed by a desperate Peter Sauber for the last 6 races of the season. And yes his forever boring driving style did his "driver stock" no favours that year - in fact he was made to look even more stark next to the flamboyant style of Kobayashi. Compounding that with the second fact that Heidfeld barely has any sponsorship money (poor as a church mouse), he was left on the "spare parts" rack for Christmas never to be noticed. There was a light at the end of the tunnel though, as Robert Kubica's unfortunate incident left the Renault team with only one race fit driver, an inexperienced Vitaly Petrov. This emergency situation forced a desperation manoeuvre by Erric "FatBoy" Bouliier in which Heidfeld was taken off the shelf and shoved into the other R31 seat.

Well, lets fast forward to now.

Heidefeld has driven three races for Lotus "Weynault" GP; what do you guys think about the way he is using his third chance? I mean what if Kubica returns? We have seen how hard it is for this man to get a seat - will Heidfeld ever race in F1 again after 2011?

[BreezyRacer]

Still too early to tell, IMO. I hope he gets the most out of the Renault and helps pilot future development of it within the team. He's a pretty levelheaded driver and doesn't make a lot of mistakes but sadly I couldn't class him as a Vettel, Schumacher, Hamilton, Button, or Webber but we shall see. Drivers rarely shine unless they have some hopeful equipment to work with. Look at Webber for instance .. he used to be an also ran but given the opportunities he's had lately he's shown us he's much better than that.

I blame the team for much of the problems Renault has had this year so far, though I feel the car is quite good. It's the racecraft they need help with so far.

[xxChrisxx]

OI! No bashing Quick Nick.

Heidfeld is a good solid number 2 driver, along the lines of Patrese, de Cesaris (in his later years). Not a superstar but pumps in solid performances relative to the car.

If I only had two words to describe him as a driver it would be, "safe" and "dependable".

[beelsebob]

My bet is that his being relatively boring is exactly why Renault hired him. They didn't want someone, who, while they may be quick, also stood a good chance of sticking it in a wall – they already had that in Petrov.

Senna (obviously not the late great) seems to fit the same description – hence why they passed him up too.

[bot6]

I think he's doing pretty good, with a podium finish on his second race with the team. The counter performances in Melbourne and China were due to a destroyed car which not many drivers would have gotten home and a destroyed quali because of the Flying Russian.

Sure, he's not flashy. But he gets the job done, as well as circumstances let him. I wouldn't be surprised to see him move to Williams next year to take Barrichello's seat, as they need a guy who can set up a car.

[andrew]

First off, Heidfeld is a much better driver than any of us here so he is doing better than anyone else here.

I'll admit that was one of his doubters and wanted Bruno Senna to get Kubica's seat.

So far his results are 12, 3, 12 compared to Petrovs 3, 17, 9. Given that Heildfelds avereage finishing position works out at 10.67, lets say 11 compared to Petrovs average of 9, the 2 drivers are closely matched.

However as we have only had 3 races, calculating driver averages is pointless as is deciding if he is wasting his 3rd shot at F1 at this early stage.

Give him another 3 races then a realistic conclusion may be reached, but it is still too early in the season to say either way.

[Fil]

There's good reason why in 2009 neither Sauber (in the midst of losing Kubica), nor Renault (choosing an erratic Russian rookie instead), both didn't want a bar of Heidfeld for 2010.

And I don't think anyone argues anymore that McLaren picked the wrong guy in 2001 either!


He's a fallback option whose consistency is his only strength. Did he ever peak? Possibly in 2007.

He was Williams' fallback option in 2005 after losing their legal battle for Button - and even then had to face off against Pizzonia!
And they publicly overlooked him for Barrichello in 2010 too.

He's been Sauber's fallback option (even after they chose PDR over him in 2010), and he's now Renault's fallback option in 2011.

If he can't consistently match a Russian that was comprehensively thrashed in 2010 by Nick's former teammate (that he himself used to match/beat), he'll struggle to even sell himself as a fallback option in 2012. Surely 2011 MUST be his final chance.

[ringo]

Don't underestimate Petrov. I don't think Kubica could thrash him now. Petrov's eyes are open.

[Mr Alcatraz]

It's too early to tell, Renault are still getting to grips with what the R31 is capable of. Personally I thought Petrov would thrash him. He's been on the podium, and had two 12ths. Breaking two wings in practice is not the kind of activity you expect from a veteran and it probably cost him places because they didn't have a current spec wing for the race. Going by the numbers Nick and the team are in reasonably good shape, between Ferrari and Mercedes in the standings. If the car comes to him he should have a very solid season IMO. Get back to me when he's had 5 or 6 races, after things shake out a little!

[nipo]

So far his results are 12, 3, 12 compared to Petrovs 3, 17, 9. Given that Heildfelds avereage finishing position works out at 10.67, lets say 11 compared to Petrovs average of 9, the 2 drivers are closely matched.

Err... Nothing of principle here. Just that 12+3+12 seems to be 27 and 3+17+9 is 29... So Heifeld should avg at 9 and Petrov at 9.67

He's a fallback option whose consistency is his only strength.

That's a very good point but I still struggle to understand why he's considered fallback even to the likes of Pedro de la Rosa (obviously a joke of a choice), Barrichello (the grandfather on the grid), and, to a certain extent, some retired German legend. I have always suspected that there are much more than just his lack of shining moments that made it such a struggle for him to get a race seat. It feels just like everybody wants to stay away from him like he stinks or something.

[wunderkind]

I have always thought Heidfeld is underrated and is probably the best No.2 driver on the grid today. He is dependable and competent in car development and race pace. His one-lap pace was on par with many top guys in the same machinery during his career thus far. If memory serves me correctly, I don't think Nick has lost a pre-season shoot out to anybody vying for the same seat.

Nick is a much better qualifier than de la Rosa or even Coulthard.

I think the inconsistency of Heidfeld and Petrov at the moment is entirely due to the car. Lotus Renault, like almost all other teams, are stuggling to get the best out of the Pirellis and are experiencing car set-up problems.

If the Lotus Renault team can get the car set-up right, Nick will definitely be a podium contender.

[wunderkind]

There's good reason why in 2009 neither Sauber (in the midst of losing Kubica), nor Renault (choosing an erratic Russian rookie instead), both didn't want a bar of Heidfeld for 2010.

And I don't think anyone argues anymore that McLaren picked the wrong guy in 2001 either!


He's a fallback option whose consistency is his only strength. Did he ever peak? Possibly in 2007.

He was Williams' fallback option in 2005 after losing their legal battle for Button - and even then had to face off against Pizzonia!
And they publicly overlooked him for Barrichello in 2010 too.

He's been Sauber's fallback option (even after they chose PDR over him in 2010), and he's now Renault's fallback option in 2011.

If he can't consistently match a Russian that was comprehensively thrashed in 2010 by Nick's former teammate (that he himself used to match/beat), he'll struggle to even sell himself as a fallback option in 2012. Surely 2011 MUST be his final chance.

Sponsorship dollars was/is an issue. Heidfeld does not have any solid financial backers.

Williams hiring Barrichello in 2010..................what an inspired choice!

Petrov has really developed himself since the final race of 2010 hasn't he? He did a superb job holding Alonso at bay for half the race and he showed everyone what he's capable of in a good car. Not to mention he brings some serious sponsorship dollars.

[Mr Alcatraz]

So far his results are 12, 3, 12 compared to Petrovs 3, 17, 9. Given that Heildfelds avereage finishing position works out at 10.67, lets say 11 compared to Petrovs average of 9, the 2 drivers are closely matched.

Err... Nothing of principle here. Just that 12+3+12 seems to be 27 and 3+17+9 is 29... So Heifeld should avg at 9 and Petrov at 9.67

I think the pertinent numbers are:

Petrov 17
Quick Nick 15

[Tamburello]

But Petrov was in a great position to score good points when that rather unlucky incident happened to make him get a 17.

In Australia, Heidfeld was no good in qualy and not good in the race either though he had car trouble.

In Sepang, they were about equal but Heidfeld managed to get into a better position at the start and we know what happened to Petrov.

In China, Petrov had the measure of him throughout and Heidfeld was having a nightmare in practice. Petrov unlucky to not get into Q3 where he's Q2 pace was good enough to be ahead of the Ferraris! Heidlfeld didn't have that sort of pace.

But yes, let's give them more time and see how it pans out. We can't dismiss anyone just yet.

[marcush.]

You guys forget that Heidfeld has helped Renault to develop the car to what it is now.So the question is:
where would they stand with Senna and Petrov doing the development driving?You need someone who knows where to go and Heidfeld has a very broad view he has seen quite a bit especially recently...so he is in a good position to give input.

PLUS :he is a safe hand usually .
Plus he has to show his worth and is fully motivated

And on his day the guy can win -I bet on this- he kept Webber in the quickest car behind
to bag the podium and when all falls in place you will see him shine.

He´s not going to bag a drivers title anymore but who will?You could say that about half the field with absolute confidence:sutil,Buemi,Alguesuari,Liuzzi,glock,Trulli,Kovalainen..the list is endless.