BMW Sauber F1 Team
2007 FIA Formula One World Championship
Driver Profiles: Nick Heidfeld.

Nick Heidfeld - The devil wears Prada?

When Nick Heidfeld hits the dance floor, people rub their eyes in amazement. The internet download sequence runs for around 20 seconds: an excerpt from a television broadcast showing him in rave mode. This dance devil doesn’t care two hoots about the running camera, he simply dances his thing, just as he lives his thing. Convention is not his thing. He goes for off-the-wall outfits, and the only place he doesn’t wear them is in the paddock. The only giveaway accessory that isn’t part of the simple blue and white team gear is generally an outsize pair of Prada shades, which he is obliged to take off when he gives TV interviews. That’s fine with the man from Mönchengladbach.

He is no showman. Yes, he has been cohabiting with his longstanding girlfriend Patricia. Yes, their daughter Juni has an unusual name. Yes, he enjoys his Formula One trips and uses them to buy unusual artworks and seek out the best eateries. Yes, he’ll have foie gras on the evening before a race because he simply cannot resist it, and on the Sunday after clocking off from work there’ll be a night on the tiles with his boss and colleagues. All that is his prerogative. But when it comes to the BMW Sauber F1 Team, this driver is an out and out professional. He keeps himself in top form, he is punctual, he is assertive, he does not shy from dishing out uncomfortable criticism until he is absolutely satisfied, and he will mull over matters with the engineers until the small hours, leaving no stone unturned.  

Starting from scratch.
On 10th May 2007, the racing driver with the physique of a jockey will turn 30. He was not quite five years old when he began competing with his brothers Sven and Tim in Motocross. His parents, Angelika and Wolfgang, lived a fast, fun life with their young sons. “I had a wonderful childhood,” says “Quick Nick”, who still loves bringing his parents and brothers along to the race track today. Even his grandmother makes the occasional appearance.

At 1.65 metres, Nick is the smallest in the Heidfeld clan. “If I had designed myself, I would have made myself a bit bigger”, he confesses, “but in motor racing it was always an advantage to be small.” Almost always. There was that long haul before he reached the minimum height to be allowed to ride hire karts. “They had these bars at the kart tracks. If you could walk under them you weren’t allowed to drive.” When he finally made it, he managed to leave his father trailing on the Nürburgring kart track. He was given his first kart at the age of eight and followed this up with club championships in Kerpen-Manheim, races at national level and participation in European and World Championship events.

Heidfeld’s entry into Formula racing was swiftly crowned with success. Aged 17, he won the German Formula Ford 1600 Championship after taking eight wins from nine races. A year later he snapped up the title in Formula Ford 1800. In 1996, at the age of 19, he was the youngest competitor on the grid of German Formula 3. It was a strong debut with three wins and third place overall. He also claimed a pole position and a race win in the Formula 3 World Final on the tricky Macau city circuit, as well as third place in Formula 3’s showdown at Zandvoort.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team line-up for 2007 - Left to Right: Timo Glock (GER), Sebastian Vettel (GER), Nick Heidfeld (GER) and Robert Kubica (POL)

Pressure points.
In 1997, Heidfeld had his first taste of the pressures of being in the public eye. His first Formula One test drive with Mercedes aroused the interest of the media, and even before the season got underway he was being heralded as the up-and-coming Formula 3 champion. Heidfeld single-mindedly took five wins to claim the title. Winning the Formula 3 Grand Prix in Monaco was another masterstroke. In 1998 and 1999 he continued to pursue his path in International Formula 3000. After taking three wins and finishing as championship runner-up in the first year, he dominated the second year and claimed four wins to secure the title. In parallel with this he was testing for F1.

When Kubica and Vettel brought some young blood into the BMW Sauber F1 Team in 2006 and the mantra-like question was put to Heidfeld as to whether he now felt under pressure, he would give an astonished reply: “How come now all of a sudden? There’s always been pressure. After all, I had to hold my own against team-mates like Kimi Räikkönen – and I beat them.” That was back in 2001 during his first year with Sauber. His debut season in 2000, by contrast, had proved disappointing. He had been given a place in the new but unpromising team founded by Alain Prost, which won not a single championship point and suffered numerous retirements.

2001 saw Heidfeld claim his first podium place for Sauber in Brazil. He drove for the then all-Swiss team for three years. “It was a great time”, he recalls. “I felt very good with the team.” It was during this period that he exchanged his home in Monaco for a house in the Swiss town of Stäfa. “Built in the mid-19th century and restored using traditional craftsmanship”, he likes to point out.

But to imagine a pair of stag’s antlers hanging above the fireplace would be a grave mistake. Paintings by Patricia, other works of art and a modern interior makes for striking aesthetic contrasts. There is also a gym in the house, which is also ideally located for outdoor sports, be it cycling, water sports on Lake Zurich, tennis or golf. Heidfeld is a fan of variety and does not subscribe to a single sporting discipline. And when the mist descends over the lake in autumn and winter, he’s glad that it’s a mere 15-minute drive to the big-city lights of Zurich.

Since 2005, he has at least been able to spend his winters there knowing exactly what awaited him the following year on the professional front. That wasn’t always the case. When his contract with Sauber was not renewed at the end of 2003, he just managed to slip into the Jordan team at a late stage. One winter on, he had to earn his place in the BMW WilliamsF1 Team in a month-long competitive testing bout with Antonio Pizzonia. Team Principal Frank Williams waited until the January presentation before informing Heidfeld that he had got the place.

In 2005 Heidfeld made his mark with strong performances, bold overtaking manoeuvres, a pole position, three podium places and incisive analytical work with the engineers. An accident during testing in Monza in August, caused by a broken wheel suspension, and a subsequent cycling accident brought an early end to the season for him, but for Mario Theissen he was already the driver of choice for the new BMW Sauber F1 Team. “I’m in this project body and soul”, says Heidfeld. “In 2006, our first season, we made progress from race to race, even though the development work on expanding the team was running in parallel. We have to continue working at this pace. There’s still a lot of room for improvement.” His goals today remain the same as in Formula Ford ten years ago: he wants to earn wins and the title. Only his sunglasses will soon be ditched for a trendier pair.

Biography - Nick Heidfeld

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