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

[andrew]

I think that Petrov is just showing how good he is now he has a bit of experience and is the teams no. 1 driver. There were flashes of brilliance last year.

[PlatinumZealot]

"He has not provided the leadership we wanted. He hasn't taken hold of the team," Boullier is quoted as saying by sports.fr.

"We rely more on Vitaly for performance, with Nick more suitable for the development of the car," he added.

http://planet-f1.com/driver/18227/70624 ... sappointed

[Byronrhys]

Its BMW 2008 all over again.

[raymondu999]

Nick is becoming reliable; but slow. No longer Mr. Quick and Reliable "Quick Nick." I believe it was Legard who called him "Steady Eddy" in 2010

[andartop]

"We rely more on Vitaly for performance, with Nick more suitable for the development of the car," he added.

http://planet-f1.com/driver/18227/70624 ... sappointed

The difference between the two drivers points wise is very small (34 v 32 points last time I checked), and the car certainly not looking good enough to challenge for race wins, so I can't see what they expected really. We've seen with Villeneuve and Fisichella what the word "disappoint" means. Who could've done better so far in Nick's shoes? Well, possibly only Kubica! Based on Nick's history, the fact alone that he seems more prone to mistakes this year is proof enough for me that he's really pushing hard (as any Lewis Hamilton fan will tell you!).

[marcush.]

just look how much improved Petrov is compared to last year..32points vs 6 in the first 10 races is really telling you something.
Heidfeld is who he is and unfortunatelly the car development took a serious dip after the opening races and Renault lost track when realising they had something different as they thought they had with the R31.
Still I don´t think Petrov will be in front of Nick at the end of the year or Sena or Grosjean would have more than 34 points now.Renault is not Heidfelds place it seems.

[Thunder2]

It was on French TV, Boullier was asked : "Is Nick Heidfeld a disappointment ?"

He answered : "I will be honest, it is a real disappointment. He has not provided the leadership we wanted. He hasn't taken hold of the team. We rely more on Vitaly for performance, with Nick more suitable for the development of the car."

[marcush.]

that really says all.
They have no confidence in him ..but on the other hand you have to see he´s not slower in the race at all ...so no future for Heidfeld in F1 as it looks if he cannot spring a big surprise this weekend.
Hungaroring was one of the few races when Petrov really outshined Kuibica last year taking a strong 4th place finish so we can expect him to be strong again?

[raymondu999]

Petrov took home 5th rather than 4th place actually

[marcush.]

oops ..sorry for that slipup.

[Fil]

Much like Heidfeld, I'm staying consistent on this. He's still not made the best out of his third chance in F1.


So now Renault have learnt that Heidfeld is:

• - experienced, but doesn't know how to utilise that,
  - not quick enough in quali,
  - not quick enough in the race,
  - not a natural leader,
  - not a motivator,
  - not a good developer.

Petrov has stepped up enough in 2011 for Renault to feel able to take risks on the 2nd seat. Bring on Senna & Grosjean!

I'll be surprised if Heidfeld survives the Summer break.

[marcush.]

that´s not what they wrote:

Boullier has critisized him for not taking the leadership role in the team but he´s happy with his development input.
he critisized his qaly performance ,but not race speed.
and the lacck of results generally.

in the same context ,he puts in Grsjean into the equation ,says that Renault failed to develop the car in house due to internal trouble...

and fact is Heidfeld is equal on points with Petrov..so there is no debating of how much Heidfeld contributed and is contributing :50%

so it´s NOT like Petrov is blowing Heidfeld away here and bringing forward a new driver
will ineviatbly slim down chances to challenge for p4 in the WDC.

I think Heidfelds position will get shaky when Renault has lost realistic chances to be 4th in constructors and have to write off the season as a failure.
At this point this is more due to the car performance than anything else...lets see what Senna does on Friday.

[raymondu999]

But I think Boullier's point would be; you have a super experienced German who is only equaling a 2nd-year F1 driver.

[noname]

Hungaroring was one of the few races when Petrov really outshined Kuibica last year taking a strong 4th place finish so we can expect him to be strong again?

Hungaroring 2010 was the race when Kubica was the victim of the mistake made by team in the pit (clash with Sutil's Force India).

However, I think, Boullier's criticism is not due Nick's on-track achievements. It's more because he is not pushing the team strong enough, if any. He can provide valuable feedback but he's not as "demanding" as Robert was.

Byronrhys is right - Nick just seems to be happy with whatever team is doing, again.

[marcush.]

But I think Boullier's point would be; you have a super experienced German who is only equaling a 2nd-year F1 driver.

tell that to Mclaren when Hamilton matched Alonso from the word go...Still alonso is one damn hell of a Formula 1 driver isn´t he?

Experience has it´s place in Formula 1 but it is not measured in lap time advantage..see Schumacher ,Kobayashi ,Perez,Vettel etc.

The excellent drivers are performing either in Qualy or in the race from the word go.
You need 2 years to get up to speed?Then Formula1 is not for you.