Heidfeld: It was not the farewell that I imagined
12 September, 2012
A symbolic end to Nick Heidfeld’s career? Heidfeld’s Lotus bursts into flames at the 2011 Hungarian GP
Sep.12 (GMM) F1 veteran Nick Heidfeld insists that he is not yet ready to move on from Formula One, and still has hopes of another shot at the top level.
The German contested more than 180 grands prix over a decade, but last year lost his Renault /Lotus seat after standing in for the injured Robert Kubica.
On that sudden ousting, 35-year-old Heidfeld reveals that he is “still angry”.
“It takes a while to work through that process, and it’s a process that is still taking place,” he said, admitting, “It was a very difficult time. It was not the farewell that I imagined.”
Heidfeld has had several outings in other racing spheres since leaving F1, but reveals he is “just now starting to hold some talks” about 2013. His preference is F1.
“I am not yet at a state where I would say I will try something else,” he told DPA news agency. “For that I love the sport too much.
“But if it was that easy [to return to F1], then I would have. So it will not be easy, but on the other hand, as we have seen in recent years, there is always the unexpected.
“I wouldn’t just go to any team though, and I know that the chance of going straight to a top team is quite small. It’s also pointless to be a reserve driver, because you never drive.
“So if I didn’t have the prospect of success, then I don’t need it anymore.”
Heidfeld holds the record for the most career podiums without a single grand prix win.
“Clearly there are better records to have,” he smiled. “But there are many others who have never been in Formula One let alone had a podium, so it’s still special.”
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@Abdulla Mohammad Hussien:
Your point is well taken But when you compare Nick to a class 1 driver Robert Kubica he isn’t half bad.
Robert Kubica rated Nick highly so that is in his favor.
Maldonado must have done his sponsor money in already in repair bills, Nick can pull a good string of points in for the team Bottas has not had the track time yet to be rated but he is showing potential.
Quick Nick wasn’t a number 1 driver but he has to be able to bring the car home in the points more often than say Maldonado and cost alot less in repair bills and fines. Plus all the grid penalties alone the guy is out of the points before he even gets to the racetrack. I guy all that money from Chavez must go a long way but still get rid of Maldonado put Nick in until whats his name …Botis? is ready.
@splatterdbastard:
HANG A TOILET ROLL UNDER YOUR CHIN BECAUSE WHAT IS COMING OUT SHOULD BE COMING FROM THE REAR.
Go troll on another site your kind of comments are not welcome here.
“Heidfeld deserved much more from F1 than what he got.”
No, F1 deserved better than he gave. He is not that great a driver. They don’t call him “Not-Too-Quick Nick” for nothing. He may be a popular figure but popularity is not what wins races and championships.
If HRT, Marussia and the other new teams want to advance their programs, they would do well to avoid the turtle. (Heidfeld)
Send him to Indy car, it’s a great place for has-beens.
Force India should sign him once their boys graduate.
Bad luck, this guy had most impressive upcoming before F1, absolute winner. I remember back in ’97, he was the next Schumacher.
Best of luck Nick!
Unfortunately, Heidfeld hasn’t had any luck at all with f1.
He drove for mclaren’s f3000 team with the prospect of joining them, but they dumped him so he wound up in the lower teams. He had reasonable success there and then eventually in 2010 he was in line for a McLaren seat, before Jenson jumped ship from Brawn. At which point, Mercedes wanted 2 german drivers and were looking at Rosberg and Heidfeld. Of course, when schumi announced his return, they were only ever going to make one choice.
Thankfully, he got a chance with Lotus, a good team, but they treated him terribly. Sad fact – 7 races after he was fired, he still had more points than petrov, who competed in all the 7 he didn’t.
He drove well for the team and was let down by unreliability and incidents not of his making. In any given F1 season, you can count his driver errors on one hand. He’s consistently quick and deserves another shot in F1. Maybe with Sauber or Force India or Williams.
I’m not at all a fan of heidfeld and i admire lotus for signing in kimi but the way lotus ousted heidfeld was disappointing. Heidfeld deserved much more from F1 than what he got.
The way lotus treated Heidfeld was wrong, the car he was driving was not up to scratch, they even blamed him when it caught on fire then exploded.
I think he could do a lot better than Maldonado but they have Bottas in the wings.
Hrt” naa!! he said he just wont go to any team, i feel williams or Forceindia should try him, hes experienced , atleast he would be better than Maldonado!
Why?
HRT should get this guy!