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

[dren]

Heidfeld just seems very relaxed and methoidical. He is more of the shut up and drive kind of guy. He does what is expected of him in the car. I don't consider him lazy, just not the bright personality that other drivers are.

[HampusA]

"He does what is expected of him in the car."

Obiously this isn´t true. Renault expected more then this. He is average these days.

[marcush.]

he had a good career in f1, starting out with prost to partner alesi and a disastrous car was something not many drivers in their first year would have survived .Now that´s it ...not many drivers scored 32 points in their last year not even participating in all races...ask Mr.Coulthard for example.Or Bourdais...

You can always expect more..lopez said he expected his drivers to raise their game after the car failed to deliver....but was disappointed with his drivers performing according to form of the car...

No F1 driver who scores 32points in season can be called average as the field is 26 and only the best 10 every are rewarded points...in simple maths :Heidfeld scored 3 points per race till he was dropped ,thats better than 9 but worse than 8th so in a nutshell he just managed to keep inside the top third of the field...

[Tyler]

I know it's early days still but the way Senna outqualified Petrov in only his first race weekend for Renault does not flatter Nicks performance at all.
I was actually supporting and defending Nick until the weekend at Spa.
Sure it didn't work out quite as well for Bruno in the race but already there are signs that Senna could well turn out to be a lot quicker than Petrov.
I've come to agree with what many are saying - if a pay driver with very little experience but bringing good sponsorship money to the team is able to compete at the same level or higher than someone you are having to pay a large sum of money to drive for the team, then the choice is obvious.
Nick has many years of experience but the team was having to look to Petrov to get into Q3 and to lead the team - this was just not a good enough performance from Nick.
I now think the team should give Senna until the end of the season to gauge his performance before making a decision for 2012.
Grosjean is obviously another option for Renault but is it a good idea having 2 inexperienced drivers in your seats?
Okay - Petrov will be in his 3rd year but I still consider him a bit inexperienced and having a lot to learn - I wouldn't consider him ready to lead a team yet.
If Kubica hasn't recovered by next year and they go with Senna/Grosjean and Petrov, surely Renault will have the most inexperienced driver pairing of all the teams.
It's not looking good for Renault at the moment it has to be said, with talk of money problems and their declining performance.
It's quite sad that they were getting podiums at the beginning of the year and at Spa they were pleased because they had made a 'breakthrough' and had achieved a ninth and thirteenth position.
I'm starting to wonder if they can even hold onto fourth position in the oonstructors - I certainly don't see them catching Merc now!

[Tyler]

A comparison of Heidfeld and Petrov's performances:

QUALIFYING

Heidfeld 18;06;16;09;24;15;09;09;16;11;14
Petrov 06;08;10;07;06;10;10;11;14;09;12

RACE

Heidfeld 12;03;12;07;08;08;RT;10;08;RT;RT
Petrov 03;17;09;08;11;RT;05;15;12;10;12

[Mr Alcatraz]

I can't say what Renault's expectations were, but Nick did about as well as I expected him to. You need look no further than the following link if you question Renault's motivation.
http://www.planet-f1.com/driver/3213/71 ... Senna-deal

Embratel, Gillette, OGX and Auden McKenzie will partner up with the Enstone-based squad from this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

An impressive list of new sponsorship

[Richard]

I agree, there was no driver available who could have stepped in and lead the team at a moments notice. Or put it another way, a driver with that impact wouldn't be unemployed.

I'd go further and say that even a clone of Kubica would have struggled. That sort of leadership takes time to establish, and commitment for the long haul.

[PlatinumZealot]

I can't say what Renault's expectations were, but Nick did about as well as I expected him to. You need look no further than the following link if you question Renault's motivation.
http://www.planet-f1.com/driver/3213/71 ... Senna-deal

Embratel, Gillette, OGX and Auden McKenzie will partner up with the Enstone-based squad from this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

An impressive list of new sponsorship

That is backwards reasoning.. those came after Bruno was signed.

Nick was not performing well at all. Slower than a 2nd year driver and not much better in races... crashing into cars all over the place. Not the motivation what the team needs. At this stage It's not about points any more if you understand what I mean.

[Mr Alcatraz]

I think my reasoning is sound. I also think Renault probably had verbal agreements that these new sponsors would come with Senna.

[Tufty]

I think my reasoning is sound. I also think Renault probably had verbal agreements that these new sponsors would come with Senna.

Agreed.

Sponsors can only be put on hold if you truly believe the payed driver will secure at least the difference in terms of good results. Heidfeld couldn't beat Petrov, and despite Senna's recent lack of running, he was still able to put in a decent performance, and the team must have known roughly what he was capable of, and knew they couldn't really lose anything by switching Heidfeld for Senna.

I think Nick blew his last shot in F1 with this ride, but then I said the same about Villeneuve once he lost his BAR seat, and he drove for Renault, Sauber and BMWSauber after that, so what do I know?

[Richard]

People also sign pre-contract agreements for this sort of thing. They say "if scenario xyz happens then we'll have serious negotiation about a deal". Then you go to Senna's backers and say if you contribute abc, then we can make xyz happen.

[marcush.]

would anyone believe someone would jump in joy and release a few millions of dollars ,Euros or whatever in a spontaneous outburst cos Bruno got the drive ? It was all placed and negotiated well in advance..the only problem was there was no seat for Bruno.You don´t mess up with your other paydriver when you are short on playing money ...so you annoy your paid driver ...but the damn bastard does not quit even after
making him impossible in front of the media.

Think again ...Why didn´t they put senna into the seat from the word go ? The credibility of the team would have taken damage no question .So Heidfeld was a bank in fact and he just did enough to secure them the chance to keep 5th in constructors.
With closing the tunnel at a crucial time it was clear they will not catch Mercedes and of the other opponents nobody is strong enough to demote them from this position .Petrov is just good enough to manage the points situation till the end.
Heidfeld would have needed a win to keep his seat ....but his first weekend was too cackhanded for this happening .

[HampusA]

While people compare him to Petrov.

Don´t forget that those two drivers have completely different objectives in the team.

Heidfeld was ment to lead the team, push everyone and fight with the Mercs.
Yet he was average, very quiet, very relaxed like he doesn´t care at all, did silly mistakes, finished only slightly better then Petrov most of the time, arguably was equal or worse in Qualifying.

What were Renault spending their money on? They could arguably have thrown in Senna a few races back instead.

[marcush.]

obviously you know more than me .
Heidfeld cannot be made responsible for suffering two times having his car engulfed in flames ..
he struggles with Qualy speed ,no question.But on the other hand we have seen numerous examples of great comeback drives this year ,so who cares if you do not reach Q3 when it´s well possible to finish the race in a better position if you start right at the back BUT on new tires.The Qualy performancew is for driver ego
not really important for your race if a win is not really on the cards (and even that is not completely out of question).

So we have a beard
we have a lazy haircut
a relaxed ,measured approach
a guy who does bring the car home with half the sidepod missing
a guy who drove into the back of Kobayashi on a day when others had the same ...
a guy who scored 34 points in 11 races.

The leadership and what have you is nonsense.He was a temporary fill in and it´s not his fault that Renault decided to drop the wrenches at a critical time and tells stories not fitting with reality at all.

Can anyone imagine what would have happened when Boullier informed Kubica they are going to close the tunnel and switch to a new modelsize in mid season effectively stopping any development and chance to get on top of the present issues?
To say Heidfeld lacked leadership when the team is prepared to come up with such a
plan is complete bollocks and in effect it turns things on the head.

In fact Kubica would have turned simply away bitching publicly about the chaos team when Heidfeld still was positive in public and expressed his hope to finally
get the promised working updates...

[Richard]

Heidfeld was ment to lead the team, push everyone and fight with the Mercs.

That's silly. It took Kubica, Alsonso & Schmuacher at least 2 or 3 years to do that with their teams, and that was with the team knowing the driver is there for the long haul, and team personal/management was replaced to suit the driver, the teams were instructed to put the number 1 driver on a pedestal and do what he says.

Heidfeld was meant to do the same as a temp driver in a team that has been specifically structured to suit someone else?

Its like getting a session musician to help with a recording, he plays what you want him to play, he'll even give feedback on arrangements, but it's silly to complain he's not writing the songs or conducting the orchestra