Nick Heidfeld Q&A

On the face it Nick had a relatively easy route into F1, thanks to the patronage of McLaren and Mercedes. In fact having done two years of F3000 he looks like a hardened veteran relative to his new team mate, Kimi Raikkonen, and many of the younger drivers currently being touted around!

Prost looked good on paper, but an uncompetitive and unreliable car ensured that he rarely got a chance to do very much on the track. Off it, he seemed to improve as the year went on. He was a little difficult to deal with at first, but like many erstwhile high fliers who find life hard in F1, he eventually seemed to come down to earth with a bump, and relax a bit with the media. Shyness comes across as arrogance, but get to know him a little, and he's a pretty decent bloke who may yet make it to the top. Adam Cooper spoke to the 23-year-old about his F1 baptism and his future with Sauber.



"It was definitely different from what we expected. I started in the beginning of the season saying that I didn't have any big goals, and didn't want to set any and then be unhappy if it didn't work out. You never know before the season how good the team will be. However, the Prost team wanted to be in the top five, and obviously it didn't work out! At the end of the season we had no points and were the last team, so we can't be happy at all. It's been a very, very hard season. I had many problems, especially in the beginning of the year, with the reliability of the car. I only finished five races."



"It's really hard. Definitely in the years before in Formula 3 and Formula 3000 it was easier to go to the races, and it really was a lot more fun. But I hope that will change in the future! Coming to new circuits was always nice, because most of them you spend a lot of time on, testing and racing all the time. But I've enjoyed a lot of them, especially Japan I found very nice. Malaysia is a good circuit too, and Brazil is very tough, especially at the beginning of the season."



"The most difficult was the Nurburgring, where I was disqualified after qualifying 12th, which until Monaco [where Alesi started seventh] was our best position. It was in front of my home crowd, on a circuit I know very well and that I like... It was very difficult."



"The good side was mainly that I learned something, and that I moved forward in terms of driving the car, just being quicker, and learning to set-up the car. Having spent one year in F1, I've learned all the things I wanted to. There's no particular weekend where I would say I enjoyed that weekend a lot!"



"I think the decisions were OK, but unfortunately there wasn't an occasion where it was completely different to the others, and perfect. I think in the States we came in too early, because some people out on slicks were already quite quick, but for our car that didn't work out. I should have stayed out on wets, but they called me in and really sounded like they were sure about it, so I thought they already had Jean in and he was going quicker. I think in Spa it was good to come in early, but we should have gambled a bit more and put one car on slicks and the other car on wets. I think I was first to come in at Hockenheim. That was the right decision, but unfortunately there was a safety car."



"People say that and if I try to think about it, I think it's true. But at this moment I would have liked the season to have gone completely differently. It was the toughest season of my career. I had one year in karting where I had a lot of problems as well, it was similar to this one, and that already made me strong. I remember that year quite well. But I thought it was enough."



"The thing that I liked most was just looking at the data and comparing everything, where you see most easily where you gain or lose compared to somebody who's already been in F1 for 10 years and is reckoned to be very quick. That was the best thing for me about it. We did get along quite well during the season, but we had two occasions where we crashed into each other, in Magny-Cours and Austria."



"In Magny-Cours there was no problem at all. It was my mistake, and I was sorry for that. We were both lucky to continue, and we didn't lose a lot. Austria was a different story. We crashed so hard that nobody was able to continue, and at this time I was in quite a good position to maybe get into the points. In the end it wouldn't have been enough, but at that stage it looked quite promising. So that was a bit tough, and it was also hard to say whose mistake it was. It made the relationship a bit tense, but only for a little while. Then we spoke together and we solved our problems. After that the relationship was as good as before again."



"Definitely. If you're driving so far at the back maybe it's the only way you can improve yourself. It finished up nine-eight for Jean. But still I think that's not so bad."



"No, I wasn't always going to leave the team. But Alain didn't take the option that he had. So at this stage I was free. My manager was able to secure a deal for me immediately. I think it's a better option than staying. Again you never know what happens next year, but at least this year the team was better. I'm quite confident in Sauber from what I've seen so far, but until you can look deep into the team, you can't tell."



"Well, for now I'm really happy to have secured that deal, because it was most important for me to stay in F1. At one stage people thought that I wouldn't make it at all. I was always quite confident to stay, and I really think that Sauber will be a good team in the next three years. Obviously one day like all the other drivers I want to be World Champion, and it's going to be tough to do that with Sauber, especially because in the next few years there will be even more big companies coming in. But I will just try to do my best, and then we will see."



"Yeah, I would like to go to McLaren, definitely. There are not many drivers who wouldn't! I still have a contract with them and I'm still in contact, and that's what I'm hoping for."



"I didn't hear anything about that. I'm sure both are very, very good engines."



"I think that will be a little benefit. This year I didn't have problems, not speaking French, but it would have been better because some of the mechanics don't speak a lot of English."



"It's very much how I expected to be. I've been a test driver for three years, and I've been at a lot of the races with F3000. I did know what to expect. Again as I said before I could have enjoyed this season a lot more having had a stronger year, and that's what I'm hoping for now. It was the most difficult year of my career - I've had a lot more fun in the past years."



"I hope one day that I will be in a top team and win the World Championship as well. But it's not normal to move up to F1 and keep on winning. Michael is definitely special in that aspect."



"I don't really like so much to be in the middle of things, being recognised everywhere. But there's still some attention, and I'm able to make some sponsor deals!"