What if… Nick Heidfeld must have asked himself this question again and again over the last decade and a half, because at the end of 2009 the German said he was a promising candidate for the Formula 1 cockpit at Mercedes, which in the end F1 record world champion Michael Schumacher got. And “Quick Nick” is also said to have been an issue at McLaren.
If things had gone differently, Nick Heidfeld would not only have become a top test driver at Mercedes in the 2010 Formula 1 season, but could even have been given a regular cockpit with the factory team of the German car manufacturer, which was then entering the premier class of motorsport. Then “Quick Nick” would have driven alongside future Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg.
But as is well known, things turned out differently: Shortly before Christmas 2009, Mercedes announced that Michael Schumacher would return after a three-year break from F1 to provide support. “It really depended on Michael, who then made his comeback,” Heidfeld revealed at a members’ meeting of colleagues from “formel1.de,” which took place over a year ago but has now been dissected in more detail. He was “really relatively close back then”.
“I also had meetings with (then team boss/editor) Ross Brawn where we discussed one thing or another,” Heidfeld continued.
Heidfeld: Who wouldn’t bring Schumi back to Formula 1?
In the end, seven-time Formula 1 champion Schumacher took the place, who was Mercedes’ first choice. “Of course it was annoying, but if you can bring Michael back, who wouldn’t do that?” said Heidfeld, who has made peace with the outcome of the cockpit question.
“In the end it was really tight at McLaren. I almost got a job there again,” continued Heidfeld. The German was also an issue for a long time with the British team, but then the then world champion Jenson Button moved from Brawn (which became the Mercedes factory team) to McLaren and Heidfeld’s (next) dream was shattered.
So for now he was only left with the role of Mercedes test driver behind Rosberg and Schumacher. But that was also “cool”, especially watching Schumacher up close.
“Michael had an extreme standing in the team, although – I think I can say this from a neutral perspective – he no longer had the same peak performance as a few years before,” said Heidfeld about his compatriot, who won two of his world championship titles with Benetton and collected another five with Ferrari, adding: “When he spoke there was absolute calm and everyone listened carefully. How he worked with the team, in addition to the undoubted driving talent he always had, is what impressed me the most impressed.”
Schumi “to experience live how structured his approach was, how precisely he worked with the team, how he picked out what you now have to analyze, where you can’t let up, in conversation with the engineers, that “It was really impressive,” said Heidfeld, impressed.