How Raikkonen's rapid rise stalled his team-mate's F1 career climb

The recent 20th anniversary of Kimi Raikkonen’s Formula 1 debut with Sauber was a timely reminder of the impact that the Finn made back in 2001.

It was one of the sport’s great stories. A guy straight out of Formula Renault 2.0 who drove his first few grands prix with a provisional superlicence became a regular top-six contender. He did so well that he was head-hunted by McLaren, at great expense, to replace double world champion Mika Hakkinen.

But what of the other man at Sauber that year, who not only found his own strong performance overshadowed by his rookie team-mate, but had also originally been earmarked for the McLaren drive?

At the time, Nick Heidfeld was the next big thing. Supported by McLaren and Mercedes from an early stage, he won the prestigious German F3 title in 1997. McLaren boss Ron Dennis even built an F3000 team around him and, having finished a close runner-up to Juan Pablo Montoya in 1998, Heidfeld won the championship the following year.

His reward was a difficult first F1 season at a dying Prost team before he landed a Sauber seat for 2001. “The Prost year obviously was a lot worse than everybody had expected,” recalls Heidfeld, now 43.

“I think we were last in the championship, even behind Minardi, which was normally the slowest in those days. My car caught fire every second or third race, so it was good to get a chance at Sauber.

“The expectation was to be better than with Prost, somewhere in the midfield maybe, for sure not as high as what we then managed to achieve in 2001.”

Nick Heidfeld, Sauber C20

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

The Ferrari-powered C20, with its twin-keel innovation, is still arguably the best F1 car the team has produced. It was fifth-fastest over the season and more reliable than the quicker Jordan, helping Sauber take a surprise fourth in the constructors’ championship, after being eighth in 2000.

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“It was not primarily just looking at results, but at this stage of your career, being able to show yourself,” adds Heidfeld. “You need to be in a decent car at least to do that and, as you've seen with George Russell, it makes a huge difference. People like to say, ‘Yeah, we all know he's super quick’, but it's still different than if he sits in a good car.”

Heidfeld also found himself with a surprise team-mate in the form of Raikkonen, who impressed the Swiss team so much in a test at Mugello in September 2000 that all the stops were pulled out to secure him a race seat. It even meant compromising the team’s relationship with main sponsor Red Bull.

“I thought a little bit more about being the leader, because Kimi was that young. But I never, including that season, went into a team thinking I'm a clear number one, or that the other one was a nobody” Nick Heidfeld

“I remember very vividly when Kimi came on the scene and meeting him for the first time at Sauber’s headquarters,” recalls Heidfeld. “He made an impression on the team and also on me, the first time when I saw him.

“He was very shy. He's still a cool and special character, but back then, he was even more shy. But there was something special about him, and he made a good impression on his first test.

“There was a big discussion, if he would be allowed to race after I don't know how many Formula Renault races, and people didn't want to give him a licence. And the other thing was that it surely had an impact on the connection that the team had with Red Bull. Because they wanted Enrique Bernoldi.

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“It was a bit of a fight, and I think not long after that the fantastic partnership and relationship they had with Red Bull was stopped. And, while it was the right decision to take Kimi on board, as time has shown, Red Bull was not too happy that Sauber didn't go for Bernoldi.”

Kimi Raikkonen, Sauber with Nick Heidfeld, Sauber  

Photo by: Sutton Images

Heidfeld had good reason to think that he would be the senior man in the team, given their relative levels of experience: “A little bit, but I would say apart from the season with Prost I never felt or went into a season thinking, ‘OK, I'm the number two’ or ‘I'm not the leader’. You always earn your position very quickly.

“I've seen that in other teams, where people thought I would be number two. Not only for me, other drivers as well, but if you do a good job – not only quick but work together well with the team and move the team forward – things just change.

“I thought a little bit more about being the leader, because Kimi was that young. But I never, including that season, went into a team thinking I'm a clear number one, or that the other one was a nobody. I was open and aware of how quick the situation can change.”

The season could hardly have started better for Sauber in Australia, where Heidfeld finished fourth and Raikkonen seventh – before being promoted to sixth and a debut point after Olivier Panis was penalised.

“My first points in F1 after the Prost season,” says Heidfeld. “And there was a big relief, not only for the team, but also for myself, knowing that now I was in a team where I could show what was possible, and probably could achieve more than we had hoped for.

“Kimi was sixth, so we had a double points finish, which in those times was really unusual, because it was only points for the top six. If you have three dominating teams, and they don't make a mistake, you're out of the equation. It was Ferrari, McLaren and Williams and, normally, you could not fight with them. So just to be in the points was a big thing.”

A couple of races later, Heidfeld took a superb third place in a wet Brazilian GP. Raikkonen made a rare mistake, spinning off in spectacular style, but not before he had got the attention of his team-mate.

Podium: race winner David Coulthard, McLaren, second place Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, third place Nick Heidfeld, Sauber

Photo by: Motorsport Images

“Brazil, the first podium of my career, was obviously very, very special, a podium together with David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher,” says Heidfeld, who has perhaps a surprising view on where Raikkonen’s strengths were even then. “I remember it very vividly and I thought I was doing a very, very good pace. And I was looking in the mirror, and Kimi sort of kept with me. I was making a very small gap. But you have to remember how young he was, and it was his third race.

“I was very impressed by how quickly he moved forward and did a good performance. And this is also something during the season and now in hindsight to see with Kimi – I don't regard him as the best qualifier in the world. Of course, he's quick, but racing already back then was where he showed his strength.

"That's where he was really, really good, that's why he has so many quickest race laps compared to other drivers [46, third in the all-time list]. And that's what I remember very early on, that his racecraft was very high.”

Both drivers continued to be in the mix to score consistently: “I think it was also a bit of a new start for Sauber, having two new drivers on board, and things just worked out. It was great. That season for Sauber was very special.”

"It was not easy for me that McLaren took him [Raikkonen] on board, because of a couple of reasons. I thought I did a good job that season in comparison to Kimi, even though it was my second and it was his first year" Nick Heidfeld

It was after Raikkonen finished a strong fourth in Montreal, and he chatted with Hakkinen and Dennis at a party on the Sunday night, that he began to move into the frame for a McLaren seat. The big hurdle was that he had a firm three-year contract with Sauber.

Expecting to be the first man that the Woking team called upon, a bemused Heidfeld heard the paddock rumours. In effect, he had acted as a benchmark for Raikkonen. The perception was that Raikkonen was the coming man, even though they were evenly matched and Heidfeld would end 2001 with three more points.

“I remember that we first realised that Mika would retire in Monaco,” recalls former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh. “Kimi was close to a podium in Canada. He hadn’t had much car racing before that year, and therefore his performance in his rookie year was outstanding. He just shaded Nick, who of course we knew very well, having supported him in F3 and created an F3000 team for him.”

Eventually, a deal was done, and Peter Sauber received enough hard cash from McLaren to commission a new windtunnel in Hinwil.

Nick Heidfeld, Sauber C20, leads team-mate Kimi Raikkonen

Photo by: Motorsport Images

“First of all, the relationship between Kimi and myself, it didn't change anything,” Heidfeld insists. “He tried to get the drive, that's for sure. That’s business, it didn't change anything at all.

“But it was not easy for me that McLaren took him on board, because of a couple of reasons. I thought I did a good job that season in comparison to Kimi, even though it was my second and it was his first year.

“And, obviously, because I was connected with McLaren for quite a while, and being a German driver I had a connection to Mercedes as well.

“Also because over the season I did have some contacts with certain people. And they told me I'm doing a good job, I'm doing everything right. And if there's a chance, I would be let's say, at least considered. But then it didn't happen. So that was something I didn't like.”

Heidfeld has a vivid memory of the Japanese GP, the final race of the year. “In Turn 2, Kimi was on my inside,” he recalls. “And he pushed me a little bit wide. I remember that because until that point, he was a super, super fair guy, which you cannot say about everybody, and of all of my team-mates.

“Until then, we always gave each other room, or more than enough room. But this being the last race of the season, and we’re not in the same team any more for 2002…

“I'm pretty sure he was in control, which is also a nice thing to say about him compared to other drivers, that he knew what he was doing. And he also didn't push me off in a way that I would go off or spin, but enough for him to just get through.

“I didn't really feel bad about that, because that's something I would probably also have done, or most people would. But that was the first moment he ever did that to me, and it was the last race.”

Kimi Raikkonen, Sauber

Photo by: Michael Cooper / Motorsport Images

Heidfeld would enjoy a long F1 career, logging 13 podiums (the highest for a driver without a victory) from 183 starts, but he never joined a truly top team.

He insists that he didn’t let the McLaren rejection get to him: “I believed in myself and I thought I would get the chance, but what I learned over the years, which is a bit different to what I assumed and expected, is that it’s not only the normal fans that watch races from time to time, but even people inside F1, who don't have a perfect overview of what is happening. This is because most of the time they have to look so much on their own things that they don't focus on the drivers and all that is happening.

“And this is something that in hindsight I probably underestimated a little bit, that you need to advertise somehow yourself and your driving a little bit more, so people would be aware.”

What Heidfeld inadvertently did in 2001 was help Raikkonen do that very thing.

Nick Heidfeld, Sauber C20, leads team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jordan Honda EJ11

Photo by: Motorsport Images