Apparently Nick Heidfeld has applied to the High Court in London to stop Lotus Renault GP from putting Bruno Senna into the team. On the grounds he has 34 points and his team-mate Vitaly Petrov has 32...ermm not the best case in the world but...
This is symptom of a team that needs money more than a good driver. Nick has a good reputation as a driver and more so as one that can give useful feedback to develop a car. Senna will NOT enhance any of that in interim but brings funding. Hopefully Nick was paid off well.
It was pretty obvious that they brought in Nick to fill in for Kubica, because the BMW team showed that Nick develops a car that suits Robert. Dumping Nick now seems to indicate that Renault (a) doesn't expect Kubica back any time soon, (b) has given up developing this year's car, and (c) needs Senna's money more than they need to pretend to be competitive.
Any word out there on the specifics of NH's contract. A lawsuit to regain an F1 seat is silliness. If the team doesn't want Nick any longer, not much he can do about it. Seems likely to me this is about money... just speculating, but I suspect they terminated Nick for cause (performance) and don't want to pay his contract. Since he is ahead of Petrov in points, he has a reasonable case... will be interesting to learn the details...
It's only quali so I know it's early, but everyone should give Senna credit for what he did today. New car, new tires, changing conditions, more experienced teammate...out qualified him by 1.2 seconds. Will be starting 7th tomorrow. Mark
Senna is going to destroy Petrov. Lets see. I hope he gets a lot more than just 2 grand prix to prove himself. He's got a half decent car now and bags of talent and the sponsors don't hurt either.
Indeed. I wasn't too hopeful after he binned it in FP1, but in fairness he then did a pretty good job IMO. I'm sure it helps, but he outqualified his "experienced" (sic) teammate on a "real" track in dodgy conditions. Maybe, just maybe, he's not the talentless klutz many here consider him? Or maybe they're all useless and a decent jockey could put that car on pole..... Cheers, Ian
Yes. Despite what we might think of the rest of the circumstances, give the boy that much at least. He did a solid job today. I for one am really interested to see what he does with it tomorrow. The race is the real test.
He did fantastic. Tough track. Tough weather conditions. High pressure, considering the dynamics of how Nick was replaced. He beats his teammate. He beats Alonso. Seriously, could he have done ANY better?
According to Boullier, the Renault principal, Heidfeld's main failure has been not to show real leadership qualities. In spite of his experience in F1, he can't give the team direction in the way to develop the car; apart from being slower thasn his less experienced team mate on a number of times. Heidfeld has driven for several teams, and never been a Number One in any of them. Bruno Senna has in the past impressed teams he was testing for, and has a reputation to be "quick off the box" and to give very good feedback. He was impressive during tests at Brawn, who choes Barichello for his experience. Senna was as quick as Button during pre-season tests at Brawn before that year he became WDC (Button that is). When he drove for ORECA in endurance, he very quickly became one of the fastest in the series, and De Chaunac lamented his departure. So give the guy a break. He got there on talent alone, and he doesn't need to trade his surname to get a drive; he deserves it on merit alone. I like Heifeld, but in my opinion McLaren casted his future years ago when they didn't give him a drive after having him as test driver for a few years. Just like De La Rosa, he never had a proper chance in F1, and when he did it was too late or with uncompetitive cars.
EJ would know what it looks and feels like when a team is going downhill fast. I think Bruno did a good job in qualifying, this race will be very important for his career, let's hope Renault does not make a similar mistake as EJ did in 1991 when he was too cheap to fix Schumacher's 191 before the race and give him the benefit of at least 1 full lap to showcase his racing skill.
I give Senna props for his start position. I take them away by the first corner. The no testing rule is partially to blame for his not knowing how to drive a full tank of gas into turn one. There should be some testing allowed for situations like this. I'm preaching to the choir.
+1 Great post, the first corner and no testing rule didn't help, but I bet he will do quite better at Monza. Heidfeld has out lived as past sale date by quite a few years. There is a reason why McLaren picked Kimi all those years ago over Heidfeld.
Not according to most here! Seems most everyone thinks he's a talentless klutz who's only there because of his name and $. Personally, I'm prepared to give him a fair shake before deciding - He interviews pretty well and seems "grounded" etc. Give the kid a chance! OK, he didn't do **** in the HRT, but that's hardly his fault is it? Cheers, Ian
Nicks split with Renault now confirmed; http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/94188 Bruno in the seat for the remainder of the season. Nick is apparently in negotiations with BMW for a DTM drive next year - Although he also says "he expects to be back at the pinnacle soon"...... I think he's done in F1. Cheers, Ian
Its his time to show his skills now. As it is he has very little real seat time in this car and very little F1 experience. I doubt he will score as many points as Nick would have overall. Next year if he keeps the seat, he will probably come into his own. Assuming the team even has the patience. Considering how they did away with Nick, its not in his favor. No one is safe at Renault.
