Nick Heidfeld puzzled by his low standing in F1
Discussion
Interesting thoughts as i know some of the PH Motorsport guys/gals also rate Heidfield wheras some dismiss him as another Heiki
Nick Heidfeld admits he is puzzled by his low standing in the eyes of much of the racing world.
With his BMW-Sauber teammate Robert Kubica assured of a drive with Renault next year, Heidfeld's position is more tenuous with the German revealing he has only 'a few options' for the 2010 season.
Kubica has partnered Heidfeld at BMW since midway through the 2006 season and while the Pole outshone his colleague in 2008, Heidfeld scored more points in 2007 and currently lies six points ahead of Kubica in the Driver's Championship.
"In terms of the public perception, I am behind drivers who are not as good as me," he told Auto Motor und Sport.
"In 2007 I was faster than Robert and I am again now. But everyone talks only of 2008," he said.
"I would have thought logic would prevail in Formula One, but unfortunately your image is not only the result of numbers," he bemoaned.
Nick Heidfeld admits he is puzzled by his low standing in the eyes of much of the racing world.
With his BMW-Sauber teammate Robert Kubica assured of a drive with Renault next year, Heidfeld's position is more tenuous with the German revealing he has only 'a few options' for the 2010 season.
Kubica has partnered Heidfeld at BMW since midway through the 2006 season and while the Pole outshone his colleague in 2008, Heidfeld scored more points in 2007 and currently lies six points ahead of Kubica in the Driver's Championship.
"In terms of the public perception, I am behind drivers who are not as good as me," he told Auto Motor und Sport.
"In 2007 I was faster than Robert and I am again now. But everyone talks only of 2008," he said.
"I would have thought logic would prevail in Formula One, but unfortunately your image is not only the result of numbers," he bemoaned.
Edited by Wanta996Gotta on Tuesday 13th October 14:23
I think Heidfeld is a good driver, the only issue is that I have never seen any flashes of brilliance that suggest he will ever be any more than just a very good journeyman professional.
Maybe it's because he's seen as too safe, the tortoise to Kubica's hare. He might be ahead at the moment, but if they had equal decent machinery as they did in 2008, I have a feeling that Heidfeld would be left behind.
He's an excellent no.2 driver. He'll always be there or thereabouts and will pick up very useful points for the manufacturer, but I just don't see him as a really top frontline driver like Hamilton or Alonso.
Good, but not great.
Maybe it's because he's seen as too safe, the tortoise to Kubica's hare. He might be ahead at the moment, but if they had equal decent machinery as they did in 2008, I have a feeling that Heidfeld would be left behind.
He's an excellent no.2 driver. He'll always be there or thereabouts and will pick up very useful points for the manufacturer, but I just don't see him as a really top frontline driver like Hamilton or Alonso.
Good, but not great.
He's a good driver now, but he's already a journeyman whose performance is not likely to improve in the future. Kubica is still fresh with room for growth, and has already shown himself to be capable of running at the front of the pack. Hence the attention and investment.
I think Heidfeld is a very good driver, in the same vein as Button, Webber, Trulli, and Barrichello. A staple driver, rather than a star driver.
I think Heidfeld is a very good driver, in the same vein as Button, Webber, Trulli, and Barrichello. A staple driver, rather than a star driver.
if they had equal machinery? he's always had the equal car to kubica hasn't he? i think nick has a point - the fact is that for two out of the three years they've been team-mates, heidfeld has been ahead of the highly rated kubica. he's had some good team-mates over the years and never been embarassed by them. i think he's massively under-rated. he's a very smart driver, got lots of experience, and brings it home all the time (until sutil takes him off). he deserves a good drive i reckon, it would be a shame to see him stuck with qadbak.
skinny said:
if they had equal machinery? he's always had the equal car to kubica hasn't he? i think nick has a point - the fact is that for two out of the three years they've been team-mates, heidfeld has been ahead of the highly rated kubica. he's had some good team-mates over the years and never been embarassed by them. i think he's massively under-rated. he's a very smart driver, got lots of experience, and brings it home all the time (until sutil takes him off). he deserves a good drive i reckon, it would be a shame to see him stuck with qadbak.
Notice the use of the word decent. This year, I get the feeling Kubica's hasn't really been that bothered, which is to his detriment of course, but last year when the car allowed him to fight, he gave Heidfeld a kicking. Heidi, in my totally ignorant opinion, is a very good development driver and number 2.
He has never shown any flashes of brilliance or, even, luck, which would suggest otherwise to me.
More talent than many who have come and gone (or will be gone by the end of the year in one case for certain) but not someone I would put in the same book as LH, KR, FM, FA, or even our lanky Polish friend.
He has never shown any flashes of brilliance or, even, luck, which would suggest otherwise to me.
More talent than many who have come and gone (or will be gone by the end of the year in one case for certain) but not someone I would put in the same book as LH, KR, FM, FA, or even our lanky Polish friend.
I rate him very highly, I've always had time for quick Nick. He's a very, very good driver, solid, good in quali, hard working, very competative in the rain and rarely makes a mistake. Flashes of brilliance? Some of his race drives have come close, but as Alonso once said, you can do what the hell your like at the back, no one ever noticed when I drove an awesome race at Minardi.
Give the German a proper car, in fact, here's a wildly pointless and unprovable point, had he been in the Red Bull instead of Webber or Vettel this year he'd be champion. Trade an bit of Webber or Vettel's pace for Nick's ability top always get accross the line (Sutil not withstanding) and I think they'd have had the Brawn's licked
Give the German a proper car, in fact, here's a wildly pointless and unprovable point, had he been in the Red Bull instead of Webber or Vettel this year he'd be champion. Trade an bit of Webber or Vettel's pace for Nick's ability top always get accross the line (Sutil not withstanding) and I think they'd have had the Brawn's licked
Ralf Rockefeller said:
He should be number 2 at Mclaren.
RD didn't think he was good enough for that in 2000 and I think he was correct, although at the time I thought Nick had the speed to make it...and had he taken that drive, I think he would have had a better chance of maintaining that raw pace. As it was he signed for Prost and, well, the rest is history..I've always rated Heidfeld and consider him to be an equal to Kubica, who I also consider to easily be a future WDC and consistent/persistent rival the Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, Rosberg best-in-class of F1... arguably!
Wet races are always a good ability gauger and looking at some stats from 2004 onwards, of 15 wet races Heidfeld has beaten his teammate in all but 1 race and has 3 very notable well-earned 2nd places in these wet races too.*
He also should've won in Canada instead of Kubica...
Wet races are always a good ability gauger and looking at some stats from 2004 onwards, of 15 wet races Heidfeld has beaten his teammate in all but 1 race and has 3 very notable well-earned 2nd places in these wet races too.*
He also should've won in Canada instead of Kubica...
- NB: a pretty quick count to +/- 1 error margin!
IforB said:
skinny said:
if they had equal machinery? he's always had the equal car to kubica hasn't he? i think nick has a point - the fact is that for two out of the three years they've been team-mates, heidfeld has been ahead of the highly rated kubica. he's had some good team-mates over the years and never been embarassed by them. i think he's massively under-rated. he's a very smart driver, got lots of experience, and brings it home all the time (until sutil takes him off). he deserves a good drive i reckon, it would be a shame to see him stuck with qadbak.
Notice the use of the word decent. This year, I get the feeling Kubica's hasn't really been that bothered, which is to his detriment of course, but last year when the car allowed him to fight, he gave Heidfeld a kicking. I don't remember Heidfeld making many mistakes, which is also an indicator that he hasn't been pushed that hard himself...
No flashes of brilliance? Try checking out some of these.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VLdPDo6mP4
More overtakes than Ive ever seen that supposed future german superstar Vettel carry out!
More overtakes than Ive ever seen that supposed future german superstar Vettel carry out!
thestig84 said:
No flashes of brilliance? Try checking out some of these.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VLdPDo6mP4
More overtakes than Ive ever seen that supposed future german superstar Vettel carry out!
He does seem to love those double overtakes!More overtakes than Ive ever seen that supposed future german superstar Vettel carry out!
deevlash said:
If button can become a wdc kubica certainly could, very underrated driver imo.
I've gotta disagree here, personally I think Kubica is pretty overrated, from what some people say you'd think he's the cream of the crop, sure he's a good driver, like all F1 drivers. However I think Heidfeld is much more underrated than Kubica and i'd definitely rank Heidfeld higher than Kubica.mchammer89 said:
deevlash said:
If button can become a wdc kubica certainly could, very underrated driver imo.
I've gotta disagree here, personally I think Kubica is pretty overrated, from what some people say you'd think he's the cream of the crop, sure he's a good driver, like all F1 drivers. However I think Heidfeld is much more underrated than Kubica and i'd definitely rank Heidfeld higher than Kubica.mattikake said:
IforB said:
skinny said:
if they had equal machinery? he's always had the equal car to kubica hasn't he? i think nick has a point - the fact is that for two out of the three years they've been team-mates, heidfeld has been ahead of the highly rated kubica. he's had some good team-mates over the years and never been embarassed by them. i think he's massively under-rated. he's a very smart driver, got lots of experience, and brings it home all the time (until sutil takes him off). he deserves a good drive i reckon, it would be a shame to see him stuck with qadbak.
Notice the use of the word decent. This year, I get the feeling Kubica's hasn't really been that bothered, which is to his detriment of course, but last year when the car allowed him to fight, he gave Heidfeld a kicking. I think people remember 2008 more than the other seasons because it was the one year when they had a competitive car. When the car is mediocre or trailing at the back, differences between drivers tend not to show much. When the car is at the sharp end, the differences are more apparent. Look at Rosberg vs Nakajima, for example.
Also, Kubica was practically a rookie in 2007 and he only finished just behind Heidfeld in the WDC standings (don't forget that crash in Canada and absence from the following US GP grid too). This year, there isn't much difference between them.
Heidfeld is definitely under-rated, but he's had 10 seasons in F1. Where has he been all this time? Kubica has only had 3, with potentially many more to do.
Edited by Jungles on Wednesday 14th October 01:05
deevlash said:
mchammer89 said:
deevlash said:
If button can become a wdc Heidfeld certainly could, very underrated driver imo.
I've gotta disagree here, personally I think Kubica is pretty overrated, from what some people say you'd think he's the cream of the crop, sure he's a good driver, like all F1 drivers. However I think Heidfeld is much more underrated than Kubica and i'd definitely rank Heidfeld higher than Kubica.
Edited the quote for you too
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