Recognize This - Nick Heidfeld

You would think that Nick Heidfeld is pretty fed up with the way he has had to face up to pretty tough teammates in his career. Since his debut season alongside Jean Alesi in 2000, Heidfeld has squared up to seismic opposition in the other car, including Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Jacques Villeneuve - and now Robert Kubica.

It would be enough to send some less determined drivers into a bout of paranoia, questioning what they have done to deserve it. After all, they say that no teammate is better than the one who is two seconds slower.

But despite the challenges thrown at him, Heidfeld has proved himself to be more than worthy opposition against each of the stars, mostly out-qualifying and out-racing each one. And yet, with the job well done, he found everyone ignoring his achievements as his teammates stole the limelight.

Raikkonen, for example, was out-qualified by Heidfeld 10:7 during the Finn's debut season and it was Heidfeld who took the Sauber team's only podium finish of that 2001 campaign as he outscored his teammate 12:9. At the end of the year, however, it was not Heidfeld who found McLaren banging on his door for a lucrative future contract.

The same thing happened with Massa, who Heidfeld outscored 7:4 before the Brazilian was rescued from oblivion by Ferrari.

Even last year, having showed well against Villeneuve, Heidfeld felt that he was not given the full credit for just how strong the former world champion was. The general perception was that Villeneuve was a spent force in 2006.

Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld in the Canadian Grand Prix © XPB/LAT

"First of all I am sorry for Jacques because I think it was under-rated what he did," explains Heidfeld, sporting the beard that has become his trademark this winter. "But it was not really a new team for me. I had been at Sauber for three years before that, so I knew a lot of the people - a lot of the people that are important for me - and it was not difficult for me.

"It is strange somehow that there seems to be a view about things before they actually happen, and then people don't really change that view. In my eyes, Jacques did a good season. He was quick and if you look at the statistics he was doing a good job. But for the people he was just over. And that was a bit sad for me to see as I thought he did a good job."

Finally in 2007, however, Heidfeld may have the chance to not only show just how good he is but also get some recognition for his efforts - and that is thanks to the fact that Heidfeld is going up against a driver who is already accepted as a potential superstar.

Unlike Raikkonen and Massa, who went on to prove their greatness only after facing Heidfeld, the acknowledgement of Kubica's talent in his own debut appearances means that Heidfeld finally has a benchmark to aim against. The thinking is that if he can beat Kubica now, just as he did last season, then he must be good. Very good.

"That is something I like," he says about the opportunity to go up against a recognised talent. "When I drove against Felipe and Kimi I knew how quick they were and people would say that if I beat them it was normal and if I didn't then I was an idiot!

"Afterwards, we now see both fighting for the championship in Ferrari so we know they are quick. It is nice that people saw how quick Robert was last year, but now I get the chance this year to start on equal terms to him. He is no longer a newcomer, and it will be interesting."

There is a very real sense that Heidfeld was not impressed by the hype that surrounded Kubica on his entry into F1. In fact, he shrugs his shoulder at the way in which virtually every fresh-faced F1 driver is hailed as a future world champion as soon as he arrives in the sport.

"Most of the youngsters are over-hyped, not only now but in the past," explains Heidfeld. "Anyone who comes into F1 is a new superstar, a new world champion. Then you wait some years, some make it and some don't. For me it is not a new thing.

"It was the same with me when I came from F3000 and so on, so I am very used to it."

With Kubica having been on the end of that very hype last year, Heidfeld is quick to hit back at any suggestions that Kubica's arrival at the team acted as a wake-up call for him to perform. Those who have adopted that view believe Heidfeld's podium finish was proof of the step forward he had to take to fight off the 'superstar' in the other F1.06

Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica in the Japanese Grand Prix © LAT

"No, not at all," claims Heidfeld when asked if he upped his game after Kubica arrived. "I always give 100 percent and if you don't do that as a driver then it is not right.

"I know that it looks like it from the outside, it looks like the results improved after he came, which is also the case, but for me that is simply because the car improved.

"If I could drive quicker just like that (he clicks his finger) with half a second, I would do it straight away. In fact, I would do it three times a season and then I would be world champion!"

Although Heidfeld's seven years of F1 experience, compared to Kubica's six races, make him de facto team leader, the German is keen to play down any talk that he is the number one.

Some of his rivals, were they put in Heidfeld's position, would readily jump at the chance to call themselves the team 'number one', but Heidfeld is not that kind of guy.

He has always been relatively shy; the kind of guy who will put in the extra work and get more satisfaction from seeing the results on track than shouting about it from the roof top.

"It may be so on paper, but in real life no one gives a damn," he says about the number one status. "I have been a number two driver in the past but then it changed after half a year. Imagine me being half a second slower than all the other drivers, how long do you think I would be number one driver? It doesn't really matter."

But what about off track? Does he not feel that he must now shoulder the responsibility for pushing development at the team?

"No, it goes hand in hand," he adds. "To be honest I don't get the point people are saying. You try to do what you can - it makes no difference if someone labels you number one or number two. It doesn't make you quicker, slower, better or worse."

Heidfeld knows all about being labelled. His entire career has been one of fighting to get the recognition that he feels he deserves. But now there is a sense that with BMW-Sauber clearly going places, he could just about be ready to finally get some credit - seven years into F1.

"Of course up until now in my career I am not happy," he admits. "I am in F1 because I want to win the championship, but I don't see my career as over. As I have said before, I hope I have 10 more years in the sport. At the moment I am in the best position I have ever been in F1, so I am looking forward to keep on pushing.

"My goal is to be world champion, but for me it would be tough not to have had the chance to fight for the championship because I did not have a good car. Then I would never know."