Self Belief: Interview with Nick Heidfeld

Nick Heidfeld really has experienced the full range of emotions over the past three races. First in Hockenheim he was involved in a first lap clash with teammate Jacques Villeneuve that compromised both their races, and frustrated the management at what was probably BMW's biggest race of the year.

Then the sudden departure of Villeneuve elevated him to the status of clear team leader for the Hungarian GP. Aware that all eyes were on his mercurial new partner Robert Kubica, he responded with a largely unheralded drive to third place.

Finally in Turkey he earned his best starting position of the year in fifth, albeit boosted a little by a penalty for countryman Ralf Schumacher. Another good helping of points seemed certain, but he arrived at the first corner to find Giancarlo Fisichella facing the wrong way, and was left with nowhere to go. He managed to get going and pitted for repairs, but his race was effectively over. He trailed home at the back of the field, unable to get up to speed in a crippled car.

"He was a little bit ahead of me," says the German of the Renault driver. "Although I had a really good start, even better than him, and the Renault are supposed to have the best starts. He was braking on the inside and therefore going a bit wide, and I was trying to attack on to the inside and had more momentum than him. And at that moment he spun. I don't know what he did wrong, he just spun. Maybe he touched the kerb, maybe he was just too quick.

"I nearly managed to avoid him, but it just didn't work. First I had the nose underneath the car, then I drove over it, which destroyed the floor, then I had a puncture on the rear right, also due to this crash, which destroyed the rear wing, and a bit of the diffuser and the cooling for the brakes. So aerodynamically the car was shit... And that was the rest of the race done, because I had no downforce left."

Nick Heidfeld limps back to the pits on the opening lap of the Turkish Grand Prix after colliding with the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella © LAT

Typically, Heidfeld was pretty philosophical about the incident, as he's not the sort to make a big fuss.

"I'm not overly disappointed, because that's just the way F1 goes. If you look at the last race, we never expected to finish on the podium. We never expected to finish where we did in Turkey, and I'm sure we could have got in the points. But more importantly for me we simply improved in Turkey compared to the previous races, if you look at qualifying. Again, I don't think we would have been as quick in the race as we were in qualifying, but we're moving in the right direction."

And that has been the general position for much of the season. There have been a few hiccups along the way, but for the most part BMW have been edging into the top 10 in qualifying, and usually threatening to score points. Heidfeld himself has managed it seven times out of 14, which is not a bad strike rate. That included an impressive run of four races from Spain to Canada that earned him an eighth and then three sevenths. It might not sound like much, but overall reliability among the top teams has been good, so any score is worth having.

"I've been in the points quite a few times, and I think we can't expect more for the first season [of BMW as a constructor]. Now of course the most important thing is we make another step next year. Of course it would be nice to keep improving this season, but I expect and hope for a bigger step with the new car."

No one was expecting miracles in the first year of the new relationship. While Sauber have been in F1 since 1993, a change of ownership always represents a huge shake-up, and not everything can be done right the first time. Knowing both partners - he raced for the Sauber team for three seasons, before signing with BMW this season - Heidfeld played his part in making things gel.

"I think that I could help especially in the beginning, but not any more now, not any more than any other driver. I think in the beginning it was a benefit that I knew both parts, and I could help a bit. But now it's not a huge difference."

The basic F1.06 package has been good since the start of the year, and as ever it's a question really of how developments work their way through the system. There's more budget for R&D than Peter Sauber ever had, but progress is compromised by the fact that the design staff is expanding all the time, and the new recruits have to be slotted into the expanding structure.

"It definitely takes time. I hoped that improvements would come quicker actually, but it's just not that easy with so many new people coming on board and everything needs to fit together. But more importantly, when we did get some new parts, they worked. But around the fourth race there were two or three races when we didn't get any new parts on the aero side, and I hoped that each race we would get some parts.

"Even so it seems we are heading forward, so it's not only on the aero side we are improving. We did some work on the suspension, the engine is improving, and reliability is improving as well, so it's not too bad.

"Reliability was a problem in the beginning of the year, and it was a bit disappointing especially for me in Malaysia, stopping just five or eight laps before the end. I would probably have finished fifth. It would have been easier to take if it was half way through the race, but not so close to the end!

Nick Heidfeld with the BMW-Sauber engineers © LAT

"But a lot of teams had problems at the beginning of the year, apart from Mercedes, which was surprising, because they were really in the shit in the winter, and then come the season they were fine. Now we haven't had any issues for a while. We've gone up on the mileage, we've gone up on rpm, and we've gone up on power. But we're still limited on engine mileage, as all the others are as well."

Of course any frustrations were quickly forgotten in Hungary. It was inevitable that Jenson Button's win captured most of the attention, and with the problems of the title contenders also stealing the headlines, even Pedro de la Rosa's second place didn't get much coverage. But Nick's drive to third was in its way as impressive as that of Button, as he kept put of trouble and made all the right moves at the right time. He also survived a brush with Michael Schumacher that resulted in the Ferrari ace's retirement. After the race there were jubilant scenes outside the BMW motorhome.

"It was fantastic... Of course Jenson did a great race and it was a great victory. I'm very happy for him, because he really deserved it. But for our team it was really special, because it's the first season for us, and we didn't expect to have a podium this year. We did hope that we would get a podium in the second year, so having it early is really good.

"And it's also important for the team, because of the low point that we had in Hockenheim and Magny-Cours. For a new team, I think it's important to come out strong at the other end of the tunnel after such a period, and see that we have to stick together and not start blaming other people and blah, blah, blah. I was quite happy that this worked pretty well. And also for me it was my fifth podium - not so many yet, but it's always nice to be up there, and I didn't expect it."

Hungary was also notable for the arrival of Kubica as race driver after the now you see him, now you don't disappearance of Jacques Villeneuve. In fact, some strong performances from Villeneuve raised a few questions about Heidfeld's own true potential. It's easy to overlook the fact that Villeneuve's three teammates prior to Heidfeld were Messrs Button, Alonso and Massa, all of whom are pretty well regarded right now. In other words, perhaps Jacques was written off a little too hastily by some.

Heidfeld had no problems with the former world champion and admits they were well matched.

"In a way I'm sorry for him because I think he did a reasonable job lately. When he came back after his break [in 2004] I was a bit disappointed with his speed, but after that he steadily improved, and I think he did quite well."

The cynical view is that Heidfeld has raised his game since Kubica's elevation to race status after showing his raw speed on Fridays and convincing the team that their race drivers might need a wake-up call.

The German has been there before. Once upon a time he was the new kid on the block - he still holds the Goodwood hill record from his days as a carefree McLaren tester - and the Kubica situation must remind him a lot of what happened at Sauber with Kimi Raikkonen in 2001, and Felipe Massa the year after. And now at BMW he has Sebastian Vettel breathing down his neck as well.

Jacques Villeneuve, Robert Kubica, and Nick Heidfeld © LAT

It's inevitable that everyone looks at the latest, brightest young thing and overlooks the guy whose been patiently waiting for his chance. Ironically, Nick admits that initially he had his doubts about the Polish rookie's value as a third driver.

"A small problem is that driving styles are different from driver to driver. He for example is more aggressive with the tyres than Jacques and me, but it still does help, especially as he makes very few mistakes. Before we signed him I said that I want an experienced driver for the third car, and then we picked Robert. I thought maybe he would do some mistakes, but he did the job like an experienced guy. And he's quick, which is the most important thing in the end."

Unlike Villeneuve, Heidfeld has job security. He originally signed up for 2007 and 2008, and was then able to get out of Williams and add 2006 to the deal as well. Three-year arrangements are not that common, but, as with Jarno Trulli at Toyota, he wants to be a part of an ongoing process of building up the team. Having gone from Sauber to Jordan to Williams to BMW over the past four seasons, he's not complaining about knowing where his future lies, for a change.

"It is a nice situation, and one I haven't been in for a few years. It's nice to know that you're secure for next year, and not only that, but with a good team. I came here because I thought and still think that we can go to the top.

"Our goal is to win the world championship in a few years' time, and to get there you cannot go backwards, it's as simple as that. We have to improve. It's as easy as that."