All the fuss this season (on the track, at least) has been over the new drivers entering F1. Lewis Hamilton has set the British media alight with his performances, Robert Kubica is living up to expectations after his excellent showing in the last races of 2006, Heikki Kovalainen at Renault is beginning to show how good he is, Sebastian Vettel wowed us at Indianapolis, and even Adrian Sutil at Spyker has been quick enough to hasten his team mate's marching orders.
Quick Nick
But what of the old guard, how are they doing? David Coulthard seems to have taken on a new lease of life at Red Bull but is usually outperformed by his team mate, Mark Webber; and Mark himself has been dogged by the unreliability of the car. Giancarlo Fisichella, while doing a solid and dependable job at Renault, has not been able to shake off his reputation as not competitive enough. Jarno Trulli does his best with a car that is inconsistent, but perhaps the less said about Ralf Schumacher, the better.
The two great hopes for the season, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, have found things very difficult, enjoying the best cars of the season but struggling to beat their team mates. All in all, it looks an underwhelming year for the experienced drivers.
Yet there is one who has shrugged off the doubts of previous seasons and staked his claim to be at least as quick as the newbies lined up against him; and that is Nick Heidfeld, of course. He has been the forgotten man of F1, twice seeing team mates he had outperformed go on to better drives than were offered to himself - Raikkonen to McLaren in 2002 and Massa, who found himself in a Ferrari from 2006.
But perseverance has paid off and now Nick is in a team that suits him perfectly. With BMW's purchase of the Sauber team, the car has become seriously competitive and Nick is extracting the best from it, regularly finishing in the points and beating Kubica on most occasions. His second place in Canada was entirely deserved and the result of a race run as efficiently and mistake-free as Hamilton's. He has also had to fight for position on occasion, overtaking Alonso in Bahrain and proving impossible for Massa to pass in Malaysia.
It all amounts to a driver who is seizing his best opportunity with both hands. After years of being passed over, Heidfeld is showing us just why he is known as "Quick Nick". And we have to wonder why he has not really come to our notice before.
Partly that has been the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; although he was able to drag uncompetitive cars higher up the order than they should have been, finishing outside the top six does not make a big splash in F1. But it also has much to do with his character. Nick is not a great self publicist and prefers getting on with the job to hyping his exploits to the press. He sometimes appears sullen and withdrawn and rarely is he caught smiling by the photographers.
But that is just evidence of the seriousness with which he takes his job. Nick has had an uphill struggle in F1 and it is his determination that has pulled him through to the good times. He deserves the success he is now enjoying.
Is he a potential world champion? I think yes; if the BMW continues its rapid improvement next year, he will have the equipment to win races and I can see Nick quietly winning race after race. It will not be easy - the top two teams are immensely strong and employ extremely capable drivers. But Nick clearly has the talent necessary and his grit and experience could well be the deciding factor in any contest with the new stars of F1.
And, whatever the future holds, he will always be able to point to 2007 and declare that he was the only member of the old guard to put the young ones in their place.
Quick Nick
But what of the old guard, how are they doing? David Coulthard seems to have taken on a new lease of life at Red Bull but is usually outperformed by his team mate, Mark Webber; and Mark himself has been dogged by the unreliability of the car. Giancarlo Fisichella, while doing a solid and dependable job at Renault, has not been able to shake off his reputation as not competitive enough. Jarno Trulli does his best with a car that is inconsistent, but perhaps the less said about Ralf Schumacher, the better.
The two great hopes for the season, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, have found things very difficult, enjoying the best cars of the season but struggling to beat their team mates. All in all, it looks an underwhelming year for the experienced drivers.
Yet there is one who has shrugged off the doubts of previous seasons and staked his claim to be at least as quick as the newbies lined up against him; and that is Nick Heidfeld, of course. He has been the forgotten man of F1, twice seeing team mates he had outperformed go on to better drives than were offered to himself - Raikkonen to McLaren in 2002 and Massa, who found himself in a Ferrari from 2006.
But perseverance has paid off and now Nick is in a team that suits him perfectly. With BMW's purchase of the Sauber team, the car has become seriously competitive and Nick is extracting the best from it, regularly finishing in the points and beating Kubica on most occasions. His second place in Canada was entirely deserved and the result of a race run as efficiently and mistake-free as Hamilton's. He has also had to fight for position on occasion, overtaking Alonso in Bahrain and proving impossible for Massa to pass in Malaysia.
It all amounts to a driver who is seizing his best opportunity with both hands. After years of being passed over, Heidfeld is showing us just why he is known as "Quick Nick". And we have to wonder why he has not really come to our notice before.
Partly that has been the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; although he was able to drag uncompetitive cars higher up the order than they should have been, finishing outside the top six does not make a big splash in F1. But it also has much to do with his character. Nick is not a great self publicist and prefers getting on with the job to hyping his exploits to the press. He sometimes appears sullen and withdrawn and rarely is he caught smiling by the photographers.
But that is just evidence of the seriousness with which he takes his job. Nick has had an uphill struggle in F1 and it is his determination that has pulled him through to the good times. He deserves the success he is now enjoying.
Is he a potential world champion? I think yes; if the BMW continues its rapid improvement next year, he will have the equipment to win races and I can see Nick quietly winning race after race. It will not be easy - the top two teams are immensely strong and employ extremely capable drivers. But Nick clearly has the talent necessary and his grit and experience could well be the deciding factor in any contest with the new stars of F1.
And, whatever the future holds, he will always be able to point to 2007 and declare that he was the only member of the old guard to put the young ones in their place.