Nick Heidfeld to replace Pedro De La Rosa in Singapore F1

[DIEK]

De la Rosa is one of the few true gentlemen in the paddock. Whatever happens, he deserves credit for giving up a very profitable position as test driver at McLaren for the joy to race in F1. A pity he has been plagued by bad luck this year - I will miss him, and I wish him the best of luck in the future if he is to be replaced.

Maybe we can have him back as a TV commentator...

well they do say that Pedro is one The Best Test drivers in world and in terms of F1 thats prob his best place as a Test driver and Not a Racer. Hes another Luca B.( for Ferrari Great test driver but lack "it" as a race driver in F1 ).

http://tu.tv/videos/de-la-rosa-tras-michael

[DIEK]

I also want to comment, that Pedro has been used nine engines, for the next, the team has to pay them... that is why in the last two races the ninth engine had limited revolutions, and therefore performance. (Sauber has no money for more engines)

[Hermann]

Well you can all rejoice now. The track obstacle is back.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86691

[Greig]

Well you can all rejoice now. The track obstacle is back.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86691

Don't really get your point, was Pedro not an obstacle, never realised Pedro was your fav

[Hermann]

Don't really get your point, was Pedro not an obstacle, never realised Pedro was your fav

Pedro is far from being any of my favourites i don't care about him, but so far he has not been a track obstacle at least for Fernando- Heidfeld was many times. But we will see- at least Nick can add more GPs without win to his record

[Hornet]

I kind of like Nick Heidfeld for some reason since he joined Sauber back then.

I agree with Suzie's comment. While Nick may not be the best, he's certainly better than a number of other drivers out there

Maybe he and Felipe can get together again to prefect their singing.

lol

[Greig]

Pedro is far from being any of my favourites i don't care about him, but so far he has not been a track obstacle at least for Fernando- Heidfeld was many times. But we will see- at least Nick can add more GPs without win to his record

Ah right so its about Fernando then

[Hermann]

Ah right so its about Fernando then

Of course. And when you imagine that Fernando is driving for Ferrari now, you might change your 'positive attitude' about Heidfeld soon enough....

[Greig]

Of course. And when you imagine that Fernando is driving for Ferrari now, you might change your 'positive attitude' about Heidfeld soon enough....

Refresh my memory on why Nick has made it too hard for Alonso?

[racingbradley]

Pedro is far from being any of my favourites i don't care about him, but so far he has not been a track obstacle at least for Fernando- Heidfeld was many times. But we will see- at least Nick can add more GPs without win to his record

You are being very hard on him. I take it then his team mates have all won GP's while they were at the same team as he????????????

[Suzie]

Of course. And when you imagine that Fernando is driving for Ferrari now, you might change your 'positive attitude' about Heidfeld soon enough....

Pffft. It's not like Nick exists purely to get in Fernando's way. The only time I remember him being ahead of Fernando was at Silverstone last year - and they were racing for position IIRC.

Anyway, this is great news. Considering how highly rated Kubica is, he and Nick were always fairly evenly matched when they were teammates at Sauber. For purely selfish reasons I'm also pleased as one of my best mates is a big Nick fan so if he gets a drive in 2011 on the back of this I might have an F1 travel buddy again

[racingbradley]

Considering how highly rated Kubica is, he and Nick were always fairly evenly matched when they were teammates at Sauber.

Of course Suzi you have jogged my memory Kube was his team mate at Sauber in 2008

[DIEK]

Also, Nick will have the luck to release a major upgrade for the car in Singapore...

[DIEK]

Refresh my memory on why Nick has made it too hard for Alonso?

2008/2009, a nightmare...

[justjesper]

I truly hope it's true.
Pedro has shown nothing at all.
And he was also involved with industrial espionage. In my mind he should be behind bars

[DIEK]

Justjesper, Pedro has made very good qualification sesions, with the car we had, but had bad luck in the races and many fails on his Ferrari engines.

And if we talk of industrial espionage...everyone thinks in Spain that Pedro is a true gentleman and a excellent person.

[siberianlady]

I dunno- I think of Pedro along with Fisico and Badoer and Schumacher as belonging to the past its now........make way for others please. Nick is not that old yet and can still be of use one assumes..........

[DIEK]

Yesterday, Sauber mechanics sent a photo to Pedro, all dressed in shirts with his name, posing beside the car n ° 22... (the car that was driven by Pedro)

Pedro sent them this photo today.



Great person, loved wherever they go.

[Grillo]

What a stupid decision to get rid of him with only 5 races remaining.

[elekvault]

What a stupid decision to get rid of him with only 5 races remaining.

Yep, and the result was far from what they wanted. Koba outqualified Heidfield for 1 second, and the race was a disgrace for them. The excuses of Peter Sauber that they wanted to know where the car is, because De La Rosa wasn't delivering (also implying that Kobayashi was not doing good), is plain and simple stupid, and lacks respect and team spirit. Kobayashi is doing great, and Pedro was doing his best, and the car is where it is supposed to be with all that amount of mechanical failures and lack of speed they've been having during the year; bringing Heidfield to the cockpit is not going to magically change the car behaviour. Pedro should have finished the season with Sauber, and Sauber should have made a better car and stop blaming the bad results on drivers.

Also, De La Rosa brought himself alone a couple of sponsors for the team; it's a really, really bad way of paying him back, replacing him with another driver, and a bad decision for the team IMO.

[elekvault]

Oh, btw, De La Rosa has just been confirmed as Pirelli test driver. Good thing he found something to do after Sauber's decision. With him on tests, I'm sure next year's tyres will be ready for hopefully another awesome F1 season!

[Hermann]

So Pedro it testing for Pirelli now and Nick will be replaced for next season:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87193


Well, they need the money....Nick should just give it up and join DTM. Should have done that this year already.

[Salvador Dali]

So Pedro it testing for Pirelli now and Nick will be replaced for next season:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87193


Well, they need the money....Nick should just give it up and join DTM. Should have done that this year already.

P. Sauber is one smart cookie! The story with Pedro was a bad one but it needed to be done. Why? The car is really bad. They neeed a good one next year. So they went for NH got him to spill all the info about Pirelli and then got a young gun with a lot of $$$$ in sponsorships. For sauber it's a win/win situation. Pedro and Nick were just pawns in his hands...
If you think Pedro got a raw deal think about Nick - only 5 races and he's gone and he knows that after just 1 race! Capitalism at it's worst...