#formula1blog

[moradkhanrmk]

When talking about the most under rated F1 drivers it usually triggers quite the debate on social media and a lot of the time it leads to a lot of hard core Senna and Hamilton fans try to convince everyone how under rated they are. Do not worry, I am just as baffled as everyone else.

Today I have selected the most under rated driver in my eyes during the time I have been watching Formula 1 and no I promise its not Nico Hulkenburg however it is a fellow German driver by the name of Nick Heildfeld.

The now 43 year old EX Formula 1 driver for me was a massively over rated during his time in the sport.

During his time in junior formulas Nick had successfully won 5 out of 14 championships, I know he is no Lewis Hamilton or but 5 out of 14 championships is nothing to be sniffed at.

During his time in F1 Heidfeld has dived for 6 different constructors over the course of his 11 season F1 career and has had some extremely competitive team mates to deal with along the way, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, and Sebastian Vettel to name but a few.

Heildfeld never had the opportunity to race for top teams like his previous team mates however no matter what machinery he was driving he always seemed to be able to maximise each and every race. One great example of this is in 2001 where he was able to drag his midfield Redbull- Sauber to his Madan podium in formula one while beating future world champion Kimi Raikkonen in the drivers’ standings that year.

Although Heildfeld was arguable never in a top team that didn’t stop him from getting some silverware along the way. During his 11 seasons he was able to score 13 podiums which is still to date the most podiums in F1 without a win but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t close. 7 Out of his 13 podiums where runner up in 2nd position. Close but no cigar for the German.

Although his results given the cars he was in were incredibly good, in my opinion he was always over looked by his “Super Star” team mates, most notably Robert Kubica during the 2008 Canadian GP where Kubica scored his first and only win and once again team mate Nick Heildfeld found himself if second position.

For me Heildfeld was an all round driver and most importantly he was very consistent. Over the course of his 11 seasons on and off in F1 he managed to finish in the top 10 of the driver’s standings 5 times and cars which arguably shouldn’t have been competitive. He was a very capable and proven podium contender and managed 41 races between 2007 and 2009 without being DNF’d.

Nick Heildfeld in my eyes is the definition of an underrated driver, his ability in the car was consistently overlooked. He was an incredibly talented racing driver with a fantastic personality from the perspective of the media. Although he never won a race, I really do believe given the right equipment he would have been able to achieve some great results.

On his day he was able to compete with the likes of Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton. I do have a soft sport of Nick as I truly feel he was never given the credit he was deserved. By no means was he a perfect driver and I don’t believe he was world championship worthy, but I do believe given the chance with a top team he would have achieved great things.