BMW Sauber F1 Team
Driver Profile: Nick Heidfeld

A well grounded person, Nick exudes self-confidence, professionalism and is as cool as they come. Generally regarded as "a bit distant", Nick is also quite assertive and firm, sharp and meticulous. He leaves no stone unturned, particularly when in discussions with his engineers. We take a look at the man from Mönchengladbach.

“Quick Nick” Heidfeld

Disarming self-confidence.
When a driver can look the television camera in the eye and say “My result was a catastrophe!”, even the most critical reporters’ questions tend to die in their throats. For Nick Heidfeld, 2008 proved to be the most difficult season of his entire 20-year career. But whatever the setbacks, he always faced the music.

His problems warming up the tyres in qualifying may have cost him points, but they didn’t cost him his self-confidence and disarming frankness. He spoke calmly and collectedly about the complexities of getting the best out of the tyres on a single lap, and remained just as cool on the track, never being tempted into “going for broke”. Most importantly, he always worked on the problems and sorted them out with the help of the engineers.

Heidfeld’s frankness is based on realism and self-confidence. When asked during the summer of 2008 whether he was worried about losing his job, he always parried with: “No, I’m worried about my qualifying performance. If I can get that up to the level of my race performance, everything will come together.” Heidfeld’s races are a joy to watch. He pulled off five of the best overtaking moves of 2008 – each of them a double pass. Even when he’s going through a difficult patch, his boss has always praised his skill as a duellist and his racing savvy.

He does his dream job with both passion and intelligence – and with an unflappability that comes from experience. The shaggy-haired driver maintains his poise in interviews too – when questions veer off the race track into areas such as art, fashion, travel or family. He manages to protect his family, yet at the same time doesn’t feel the need to hide them from view. He has them with him as often as possible, and he talks readily about Patricia, his partner, and their offspring.

“Children are simply the greatest thing you can have,” he enthuses, laughing about his son Joda, born in summer 2007, and his awkward attempts to walk, or the antics of daughter Juni, who is two years older.

Fine balance
The balance between self-discipline and freedom is something that’s also important to him on tour. Although he is often the last Formula One driver to leave the track on a Friday evening, never satisfied until he has analysed and discussed every last piece of data with the engineers, afterwards he enjoys doing his own thing. He likes exploring his surroundings wherever the job takes him.

He enjoys strolling, shopping and visiting art galleries as much as larking about with the family at Disney World. Good food is a passion, but intensive workouts in the gym ensure there is never any risk of the muscular, jockey-sized driver ruining his figure. He is also quite a party animal. In 2008, he invited friends from home and the paddock to a spectacular bash on Lake Zurich.

And having German band Fanta 4 come and perform was a dream fulfilled. Heidfeld finished all 18 of his grand prix races in 2008, and scored four second place finishes. Indeed, on second placings he holds a somewhat dubious honour: no other Formula One driver has scored as many without ever winning a race. Only once was he in with a genuine chance, and that was in the Canadian GP in 2008. He was on a one-stop strategy and perfectly positioned.  Nothing could have stopped him – had it not been for team-mate Kubica, who came from behind in a car which for strategic reasons was lighter than his.


Factbox: "Quick" Nick Heidfeld