Motorsport Musings Ramblings of a racing enthusiast…

What About Nick Heidfeld?

Nick Heidfeld’s name has been linked to more teams during the ‘silly season' than I care to remember. BMW Sauber’s withdrawal had left him without an F1 drive after what most would deem to have been an undervalued 11-year grand prix career, and despite tentative contact with several teams, he’s had to stand by helplessly as doors have slammed in his face.

A fleeting glance in the direction of some of his compatriots would be reason enough to warrant any misgivings he may have. He had looked almost certain to partner Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, before Michael Schumacher announced his comeback shortly before Christmas. There was even talk that Heidfeld had been some way down the line in negotiations with Virgin Racing, with a view to leading them on their maiden voyage, before Timo Glock snapped up the opportunity, as he too was in a state of limbo following the departure of Toyota.

Heidfeld would have been a logical choice in either role, yet here we are, a few days before the first official testing of the year gets underway in Valencia, and the 32-year-old German looks as though he could well have taken the wrong route, heading down the F1 cul de sac – still without a race seat and just a few opportunities available.

His former team-mate Robert Kubica signed a deal with Renault in early October; however the uncertain future of the team that followed forced any plans to recruit a second driver on hold. The Enstone-based team is now largely owned by private investment firm Genii Capita, lead by new team principal Eric Boullier, who has yet to decide Kubica’s partner for the upcoming season.

Reports earlier this week indicated that the Boullier was looking at two experienced drivers, of which Heidfeld was one, and a couple of rookies. The new team principal having to weigh up the expertise and knowledge someone like Heidfeld would bring, with the financial backing a rookie may have behind them. Recent speculation suggests that the Frenchman’s decision has all but been made, with Russia’s Vitaly Petrov seemingly close to securing the second seat at Renault, thanks to the massive backing from his nation’s government and through Russian mobile operator MegaFon.

Elsewhere, USF1 are set to announce former Renault test driver Joes Maria Lopez as its first driver for its maiden F1 campaign tomorrow (Monday), leaving just the second seat at the American outfit and the one opposite Bruno Senna at Campos Meta needing to be filled. Surely one of these teams would want a driver as experienced and reliable as Heidfeld?

Of course it goes without saying they most probably would. Okay so perhaps he’s not in the same league as Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel, who are able to extract an extra tenth when required. But he does have an uncanny ability to poach a few points here-or-there - though that elusive first grand prix win still eludes him, not helped by the fact he’s never really been in possession of a race winning car, and when he was (Canada 2008) strategy dictated the outcome. As a solid, all-round driver, you can rely on Heidfeld to bring the car home.

I suppose the real question here is whether he would want to apply his trade to either of the teams who are expected to most likely struggle this season. Neither would be such a bad place to be, but they’re unlikely to field a competitive car this year, and, as we’ve seen already, Heidfeld has proven to be rather choosy with his employment decisions in recent months.

So in what capacity do I think we’ll see him this year? Well given his experience and connections with Mercedes (who supported him a decade ago lest we forget) a reserve-driver position with the Stuttgart marque looks to be the most likely option at present. It’s perhaps not what he wanted, but it at least allows him to retain links with an establish team, who should be able to offer him a chance of running in the DTM series to keep him race fit.

It all makes perfect sense in my head. The German-based V8 tin-top series schedule has been created so that it doesn’t clash with F1, so Heidfeld would be freely available to attend each grand prix weekend for Mercedes without any issue.  The DTM series also provides a good platform for a driver to show their worth and has proved to be an attractive prospect for many top drivers from the ranks of F1 to come and participate in. A DTM campaign in a Mercedes C-class this year would prove to be a huge marketing draw, not only for the series, but for both driver and manufacturer alike.

Whatever Heidfeld decides, the problem he faces is that at 32, there are new faces coming along, and after a decade in the sport, he is fast running out of options. With that in mind; I look forward to seeing him fighting it out amongst the Audi A4s this year.