As Verasaki pointed out in the comments to my last post, the controversy over the stewards' decision to penalize Hamilton at Spa overshadowed the best race we have seen in ages. There were innumerable overtaking maneuvers, collisions and valiant efforts all the way through the field, so much so that the TV broadcast missed some while concentrating on others.
Nick Heidfeld pit stop
One of the pivotal moments in perhaps the most amazing story of the day was Nick Heidfeld's pit stop to change to intermediate wet tires just two laps before the end of the race. The fact that the TV missed this event made Nick's subsequent charge through the field seem the more remarkable. But the story of his race is well worth telling again with hindsight to celebrate such a reversal of fortune between lap one and the finish.
It is no secret that Nick has been under tremendous pressure to start producing better results or be out on his ear next year. Lately, he has overcome his qualifying problems, only to see bad luck rob him of the results he so desperately needs. It was no surprise (although monumentally galling), therefore, to see his excellent fifth spot on the grid instantly negated by Heikki Kovalainen's bumping him sideways in the first corner.
Nick was amazed and grateful that the car had not been damaged and he emerged from the mess in tenth spot. He then began his customary dogged race through adversity and had climbed to seventh by the time the rain began to fall. And it was then that he made a surprising decision.
There is no question that it was his - Nick mentions in the post race interview that the team queried his initial request for wet tires. I have high regard for Nick's strategic ability and this serves to confirm that his clever usage and timing of pitstops last year to get ahead of his team mate were at least partially thanks to his input into the team. He came in, had the required tire change and charged out again, having slipped back down to ninth.
There were others who made the same decision and they, too, reaped a reward in the last two laps. Alonso delayed the change one more lap and thinks he could have won the race had he timed it as well as Heidfeld. That may well be, for the extra lap gave Nick time to warm the tires for his assault in the final lap of the race.
By the end of lap 43, Nick had moved up to seventh and was really flying. In the last lap he passed Kubica, Vettel, Bourdais and Alonso to be third at the line. One can only imagine Alonso's frustration as Nick came hurtling past, the Spaniard still struggling on his colder wets. That third place becomes second with Hamilton's penalty (no, appeals to the FIA Court do not succeed) and Heidfeld at last reaps the benefit of his hard work in defeating his problems this season.
It is a stirring tale and one that demonstrates the old adage that one should never give up. Nick may not have that charisma and flair that some of the younger drivers exhibit but he has the qualities that one expects of a top quality competitor in F1: speed (they don't call him Quick Nick for nothing), racecraft and perseverance. Last Sunday should have been his much more than has been possible, given the inevitable row over the stewards' latest horrendous error. It may not have been sufficient to guarantee his BMW seat next year but it does remind Dr Theissen of the reasons for Nick being in the team for so long. The good doctor has a hard choice to make in the next few weeks.