(born
May 10 1977 ) is a
German Formula One Auto Racing driver for the
BMW Sauber factory team. He lives in Stafa, Switzerland with his girlfriend Patricia and baby daughter, Juni.
Heidfeld was born in
Mönchengladbach , Germany, and began racing in
1988 . In
1994 , he moved into the German Formula Ford series, and gained widespread attention by winning 8 of the 9 races to take out the title. In
1995 , he won the German International Formula Ford 1800 Championship, and came second in the Zetec Cup. This led to a drive in the German International Formula 3 championship for
1996 , where he finished third after taking 3 wins. The following year, Heidfeld won the German F3 Championship, including a win at the prestigious
Monaco event. In
1998 , he won three races and was runner-up in the European Formula 3000 Championship with the West Junior Team, failing to win the title because he lost his
Pole Position at the final race due to a team error. During that season, he was also the official test driver for the
McLaren -
Mercedes Formula One team. In
1999 , he won the International Formula 3000 Championship.
Having impressed with his final season of Formula 3000, Heidfeld was signed as a race driver for the
Prost Grand Prix F1 team for the
2000 season, alongside
Jean Alesi . Heidfeld struggled with his new car. he suffered a string of retirements and came to blows with team mate Jean Alesi on more than one occasion. He departed Prost at the end of that season. Shortly after he signed a three-year contract with
Sauber for
2001 , partnered with rookie driver
Kimi Räikkönen . After the announcement of
Mika Häkkinen 's retirement, many thought that Heidfeld would replace him in the McLaren team, as he had outperformed Räikkönen over the year, including a podium position in the
Brazilian Grand Prix . However, the seat went to Räikkönen, and Heidfeld stayed with Sauber for
2002 and
2003 . At the end of 2003, Heidfeld was dumped from the team and looked to be without a race seat for the
2004 season. However, after a number of successful tests, it was announced that Heidfeld would race with the
Jordan Grand Prix team, alongside rookie
Giorgio Pantano . Heidfeld was impressive in a mediocre car, but was not signed for another team in
2005 . During the
Winter , Heidfeld has tested with
WilliamsF1 , in a 'shootout' with
Antônio Pizzonia for the second race seat. At the Williams launch on
January 31 , it was announced that Heidfeld would be a race driver for the team in 2005.
At the seventh race of the season at the Nurburgring circuit, his home grand prix, Heidfeld took his first ever pole position.He has also achieved his best position to-date (2nd) with Williams in
Monaco this year, which he equalled at the Nurburgring.
Heidfeld missed
The Italian and
Belgian Grands Prix due to injuries suffered in testing accident. Scheduled to come back for
Brazil , he was injured again when hit by a motorbike when out cycling, and therefore forced to sit out the rest of the season.
Nick's 2005 season will be hard to beat in 2006, as he is racing for a team which are expected to be in mid-grid. However, the team are expected to improve with BMW's presence and Nick, with a three year contract, is expecting to be challenging for wins by 2008.
So far for Nick, the 2006 season has been better than expected - Nick was on form in the season-opener in Bahrain and had it not been for rookie Nico Rosberg hitting Nick's rear at the first corner, a points position was probable.
Malaysia, the following race, was even better - Nick ran 5th for the majority of the race and had it not been for an engine blow in the final 7 laps, Nick would have scored 4 points for the team.At Melbourne he was running as high as second until he was caught in some confusion when the safety car came out and eventually finished 4th.
He will be comforted by the fact that he has, at times, out-performed Jacques Villeneuve - the 1997 World Champion.
He is frequently referred to as 'Quick Nick' or 'SUPER Nick'
Notes:
- Grands Prix in denote '''points scoring''' races
- Grands Prix in ''italics'' denote races in which this driver ''did not participate''
''Year in bold denote Champion.''
- 1986: Karting
- 1988: Club Championship, Kerpen-Mannheim
- : Nordrhein-Westfalen DMV Kart Championship
- 1991: Member ADAC junior kart squad (Qualified to take part in World and European Championships)
- 1992: Fifth in German Junior Kart Championship
- 1993: Enters Formula A World Championship in Laval
- : Formula Ford 1600 class winner in German Formula Ford series (eight wins out of nine starts)
- : International German Formula Ford 1800 series Champion
- 1995: German Formula Ford: Vice-Champion
- 1996: F3 Germany: Opel Team BSR, 3rd, 138 points (3 wins, 6 podiums, 1 pole position, 6 fastest laps)
- : F3 Germany: Opel Team BSR, Champion, 224 points (5 wins, 11 podiums, 2 pole positions, 7 fastest laps)
- 1998: Formula 3000 : 2nd, 58 points (3 wins, 7 podiums, 2 pole positions, 3 fastest laps)
- 1999: Formula 1 Tests: Prost - Peugeot , and McLaren - Mercedes
- : Formula 3000: West Competition Team , Champion, 59 points (4 wins, 7 podiums, 4 pole positions, 6 fastest laps)
- 2000: - Peugeot , 20th, 0 points
- 2001: Formula 1: Sauber - Petronas , 8th, 12 points (1 podium)
- 2002: Formula 1: Sauber - Petronas , 10th, 7 points
- 2003: Formula 1: Sauber - Petronas , 14th, 6 points
- 2004: Formula 1: Jordan - Ford , 18th, 3 points
- 2005: Formula 1: Williams - BMW , 11th, 28 points (3 podiums, 1 pole position)
- 2006: Formula 1: BMW Sauber - BMW
Williams give Heidfeld his chance . ''BBC Sport'' (31. January, 2005).
