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

[andrew]

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

Darn! My maths is as pointless as a comparision at this early stage!

[Fil]

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

I'm a fan of Petrov in 2011. As he's become more comfortable in the surroundings of F1, he's proving himself to be maturing, learning & adapting, yet balancing that with a dare to push & try. He seems to me to be of the same ilk as Kobayashi.

You guys forget that Heidfeld has helped Renault to develop the car to what it is now.

Good to say, but the R31 was quick out of the box with Kubica. There's little to substantiate any further improvements are his, more than Petrov's, or the reserve driver posse.

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.

Oh that list you provided!

• - Buemi & Alguersuari are both publicly under pressure for their seats this season.
  - Liuzzi was dumped by his former team (not for the first time in his F1 career)
  - Glock's going backwards career-wise & is being beaten by his rookie teammate in 2011
  - Trulli has only shone in underperforming midfield teams
  - Kovalainen couldn't hack it in the big teams..

Hardly illustrious comparisons, and none deserving of a top team drive. Nick fits in remarkably well. Nicely done.


But to answer the OP's question, I think we'd have to agree that to make the best of his 3rd chance is not by winning a driver's title, but by beating Petrov. Early on he's behind head-to-head in quali, the races, and points.

[bot6]

Keep in mind that Petrov had more time in the car in testing, and knows the team better. Nick just arrived there in the middle of a crisis, so just being on Petrov's level right now is pretty good.

Also if you look at the past three races, Petrov usually screws up by himself (the take-off for example) and Heidfeld usually gets his races screwed up by exterior events. In China, his KERS was acting up the whole weekend, and as for Melbourne let's just say a Torro Rosso cutting your car in half will slow you down a wee bit.

I just think Nick hasn't had enough "clean" race weekends for us to be able to judge his performance just yet.

[volarchico]

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?

This is the part I'm most curious about. Will Heidfeld get a seat somewhere else when Kubica gets back next year?

[marcush.]

let´s put it that way:
Heidfeld needs to win a race to be a hot ticket for 2012.Anything else will not help.He has done so many good seasons has only ever lost out to Kubica in 2008 and Kobayashi in the second half of 2010.
He clearly had the legs over Webber till he got sidelined by an accident,beat Massa ,Raikkonen ,Villeneuve,Kubica 2out of 3 but he clearly lacks that winner nimbus in F1.
If he is grabbing one of the chances he will get undoubtedly this year he can reignite his career.Otherwise I´m afraid it´s been that ..
But Monaco and Canada could be golden opportunities.

[noname]

He has done so many good seasons has only ever lost out to Kubica in 2008 and Kobayashi in the second half of 2010.

Unfortunately for Nick 2008 was the year when BMW had a winning car.

He is in F1 for over a decade without a win... that just does not look good.
He's quick, consistent but looks like missing the "spark".

[gray41]

shame hes not called eddie.....

[marcush.]

the tyres clearly did not suit him in qualy...and he paid a huge price in that season.When Kubica won we should not forget that Heidfeld managed a second place in that race .So it was not just Kubuca who was the factor .the car was really working good that day and : Hamilton and Raikkonen stranded in that bizarre pitexit accident -survived only by Kubica ,if I remember correctly...
But thats past long time and we will see what he can do in this year.

[ringo]

Q: Renault team principal Eric Boullier said that he dare not think how the team might be doing were Robert Kubica racing. Is the notion that somebody else might do better putting pressure on you?
NH: No, because I know how I compare to Robert. We were team mates for four years - or three and a half seasons - so we know each other. Some people will probably tell you that Robert was quicker, but there are also numerous others who will swear that I was quicker and if you look at the real numbers we’ve always been pretty equally matched. I think I know pretty well where I stand compared to Robert, so such a notion doesn’t really trouble me.

brings up back the age old debate on who could do what in which car.

[Fil]

The interesting thing there, Ringo, is that he claims he knows the 'real numbers', but doesn't admit them.
It's known that all the drivers are pretty equally matched, within a few tenths of each other at their best. So that's a very wishy-washy statement to make!

If he knows that the numbers prove he's quicker, he'd say it.
If he knows that the numbers prove he's slower, he'd skirt around the fact.

He did the latter.

[marcush.]

errm..the statement was :some people say he is slower ,some swear he´s quicker...I remember him more often than not sacrifying grid position for strategy (fuelload at the start)..and resultwise there is not much to be found between Robert and Nick.

[bot6]

Add to that the fact that with Robert being injured, it would be insensitive of him to say "I'm better than him anyway"... He's just trying to be gracious here.

[marcush.]

of course...Nick is such a loyal guy .He would be happy to lose his seat for Kubica returning as quick as possible no doubt about it.

[bot6]

Maybe not, but saying that to the media straight on would do nothing good for his image and he knows it. All about PR.

[Rob01]

May 6 (GMM) Nick Heidfeld has admitted he has been surprised with the strong pace shown by his Renault teammate Vitaly Petrov so far in 2011 while saying that he believes he is as good as Robert Kubica who he is substituting for.