Nick Heidfeld - F1’s Forgotten Man

in DRIVERS F1 2010 by admin — March 13, 2010 at 7:21 am | 1 comment

Nick Heidfeld: F1’s Forgotten Man

Ten years of experience, twelve career podium finishes and over 200 points scored.

Why is Nick Heidfeld without a drive?

Despite driving for midfield teams for the better part of a decade, “Quick Nick” has put together an impressive career. Last year was another display of Heidfeld’s talent, outscoring teammate Robert Kubica in a sluggish BMW while in the midst of an uncertain future.

Even as BMW announced their departure from Formula One, Heidfeld hoped to remain with the team through new ownership. After a failed attempt by the Qadbak group to purchase the team, Peter Sauber rescued the team he originally founded.

With Heidfeld being familiar to Sauber (after all, had driven a Sauber for seven years), you’d think Heidfeld would’ve been the team’s first choice, right?

Think again. Despite his talent and experience, Heidfeld never appeared to be considered for a seat. The team quickly snatched up the daring Kamui Kobayashi, with Sauber hinting that the second seat was likely to go to a veteran. But with each passing day, it seemed less and less likely that veteran would be Heidfeld.

Instead, the second seat went to the ageless Pedro de la Rosa, who last competed in a Formula One race in 2006. To get an idea of how – err, ageless – de la Rosa actually is, you’d have to go back to 2002 to find the last time he actually began a season in Formula One. De la Rosa has always been a quick test driver, but you really have to wonder what Sauber was thinking. Testing and racing are very different (Luca Badoer, anyone?).

Nonetheless, it appeared that Heidfeld would find one of the more coveted seats this silly season, racing alongside Nico Rosberg at the new Mercedes Grand Prix team. Unfortunately for Heidfeld, Michael Schumacher (yes, the seven-times World Champion) returned to the sport in arguably the biggest storyline of the winter.

This left Heidfeld with a decision: taking a ride with a lesser team, or taking a spot as Mercedes’ reserve driver.

He chose the latter, which may not have been a bad choice. If Schumacher chooses to retire before his three year contract ends, it would appear that Heidfeld would be next in line. And if a team wanted Heidfeld for a race seat, you would expect that Mercedes would be happy to release the driver.

The lack of interest in Heidfeld this off-season is still mind-boggling. For example, I can’t help but think Renault could’ve used a Heidfeld/Kubica lineup to bring stability to the team rather than giving the seat to a pay driver (who, ironically enough, may or may not have money to pay the team).

Will “Quick Nick” find his way onto the grid again? Time will tell.

Cliff Cermak