Already the favourite to replace the injured Robert Kubica at Lotus Renault GP, Nick Heidfeld strengthened his case by topping the time sheets on Day 3 of testing at Jerez, Spain. It was an impressive showing by the veteran German driver considering that it was his first taste of the R31 and his first time back in an F1 car since November last year. He is justifiably happy with the outcome.
“I’m pleased with the job I did, very pleased. I don’t think I could have done any better, and I didn’t do any mistakes,” said Heidfeld, who was Kubica’s teammate at BMW Sauber.
“We already started today to try and improve the car, find directions, where the problems are, where the strengths are. I’m obviously trying to do the best job today so I can drive in the future, but I’m also just using it as a normal test and trying to develop the car,” he told hacks at the track.
“The car is already very different to how it was this morning, suiting my driving style a lot more. It is still not ideal – I hope there is more to come from the feeling I have – but it’s a good base,” added Quick Nick.
“Today we had the chance to give Nick time in the car and we carried out a big evaluation. Our first feelings are very positive: he worked well with the team, gave good feedback and improved the car during the day. We managed to cover 86 laps and the times are encouraging, which is also thanks to Robert and Vitaly’s early feedback and the hard work of everybody in the team,” praised team boss Eric Boullier.
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Quick Nick is definitely the best choice for Lotus Renault. Backed by years of F1 racing experience, test driver for Mercedes GP & the only F1 driver who had spent the most time testing/running on the new Pirelli tyres. Give him a championship car & he might stand a chance to win the F1 world championship this season.
Kimi Raikkonen is the best ever choice, Nick Heidfeld is also a good choice.
I believe Kimi Raikkonen can do more better in Lotus Renault GP R31 F1 car.
nah…kimi is just damn plain expensive…
btw he’s out for sometime now…it would take time to adapt to the changes..
look at schumi…nuff said..
Go for it Nick, give ur best shoot…
He’s really an underrated driver. All the best, Nick!
Nick “High”feld… XD. Go out and show them what u got!
no matter kimi or nick, both used to be a team mate in sauber petronas several years ago…thanks to peter sauber who pick and train them from zero to hero.
i personally think Nick would be the better choice. You will need to build a tank for Kimi to drive and he’s not a racing driver that knows how to preserve a car. All he does is push, push & push until the car breaks down.
Go Quick Nick!!! :D
“Kimi is a fantastic driver, and I like him and know him well. He was with the team for five years. He is quick, he is committed and I think he probably would be very committed to beating Ferrari in the future – knowing him. All these are attractive things with Kimi. He is not political. He is absolutely straightforward – what you see is what you get with Kimi. And on top of that everyone knows that he is a winning driver. I think he has been underestimated technically. He is a very good racing driver and I think he would fit well in this team, if we choose to go down that route. ” – Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren Mercedes Team Principal
“I am a great admirer of Kimi and I can’t believe that he’s going to
retire. People have created that speculation, and knowing Kimi a little bit, he’s not going to be fussed about correcting it. So it grows, doesn’t it? He’s a great world champion and in my opinion he’ll fancy his chances of winning a few more.” – Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren Mercedes Team Principal
“Quite frankly, Kimi Raikkonen is the fastest driver in the world” – Stirling Moss
“I looked in his eyes and I thought ‘I’ve seen this look before. And I know where I saw that look before. And it gave me goosebumps when I remembered that look. It was Senna.” – Sergio Rinland
“With the press, Kimi is who is is. He is very honest – it’s hard to find a driver who admits to his mistakes as sincerely as Kimi does.” – Luca Colajanni
“It has to be said also that Kimi is unbelievable. He’s so focused in his work. Nothing else than his work.” – Stefano Domenicali
“I was particularly pleased for Kimi because he struggled a little at the beginning to adapt to the new team, car and particularly the Bridgestone tyre characteristics. What impressed me was that he worked with his engineers, understood the issues, got on top of the situation and, importantly and in the style of Michael, he did it in a quiet way within the privacy of the team. His performance in the second half of the season was exceptional.” – Kimi Raikkonen
“Kimi was able to do so many things behind the wheel that our engineers’ advice wouldn’t have been of help there. In that sense Kimi is better than Michael Schumacher. When I was working as Michael’s data engineer we always had to tell him accurately how he could drive faster in different corners according to the computer. With Kimi you don’t need these kind of advice. He finds the solutions
himself.” – Andrea Stella
“His performances were astonishing. Even the Ferrari engineers don’t fully understand how he managed to get some of the podiums he did.” – James Allen
i dont understand why hire nick to take kubica’s seat. while the team has fairuz fauzy as reserve driver?
Fairuz Fauzy?
have you watch GP2 race last weekend? he colided with his own team mate during qualifying … not a racer breed that fairuz
to all kimi raikonen fanboys… LRGP will announce nick heidfled as the replacement later tonight….
Vettel collided with Webber, is he not racing material?
cuz they need an experience driver to lead the front runner car….
Kimi?? last day was the last run for Jerez course whilst Kimi was no show as he buzy with Swedish Rally.
Next monday LRGP will reveal their Kubica’s replacement. Who do you think is it gonna be?? still Kimi?? hmm while i do agree he is faster and better than Nick but reality hurts, don’t they?? Kimi, rain check i guess, maybe the other driver did really bad he had to push out from F1..then we’ll see Kimi’s back!!!