BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld takes completed-races record from Schumacher
Nick Heidfeld at the launch of the BMW Sauber F1.09 – Click above for a high-res image gallery
Nick Heidfeld and the BMW Sauber F1 team he drives for may not be having the best season thus far, but one thing you can give them credit for is consistency. And as anyone who knows racing can tell you, finishing the race is the most fundamental element of success. So it shouldn't fall on deaf ears that Heidfeld set a not insignificant record last weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix, where – after 25 successive grands prix – the German driver took the record for the most races completely consecutively.
The record was previously held by fellow countryman Michael Schumacher, and came on Heidfeld's 32nd birthday. The last time Nick didn't finish a race was way back at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway, where technical difficulties sidelined him two laps before the finish line. Since then Heidfeld has started and finished every grand prix, through the remainder of 2007, all of 2008 and every race this year so far.
Gallery: BMW Sauber F1.09
[Source: F1-Live]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sk 8:09AM (5/18/2009)
So why is he standing behind the finish line and not after?
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Kitko 8:39AM (5/18/2009)
Unfortunatelly, Nick is on his way to become an also-run, but his finishing record is impressive. Although....
Schumacher's record also featrured points in every of those races while Nick's feat features few no-points home runs.
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Metar 12:09PM (5/18/2009)
Note that he also had an almost-impeccable qualifying record, and holds the record for the most consecutive appearances in Q3 - from Bahrain 2006 until mid-2008.
tuna 2:35PM (5/18/2009)
Ditto what Metar said. Nick has what it takes to win, just for some reason can't quite to put it together in Q3 and race day since mid last year. Also, Kubica seems to have emerged as the #1 driver of that team.
Sam 9:30AM (5/18/2009)
Whats the betting on he'll retire from the next race?
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jim 11:22AM (5/18/2009)
Does this mean that Nick is reliably slow?
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timurjonchik 11:32AM (5/18/2009)
I'm going to MONACO to watch the Formula 1 racing. hahahahah
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CHINO 12:31PM (5/18/2009)
Congrats to Nick.
It's not like he starts every race as the last car on the grid. They're not all points finishes, but it's not like his teammates have been lighting up the podium either. I'm not a big Heidfeld fan, but let's think about this accomplishment. That's 25 straight races of no (race ending) turn one mishaps. Pretty amazing on its own considering some of the circuits. 25 races without a gear box or anything else mechanical being torn up. And 25 races of not being one of those guys who goes flying through the background of the TV coverage missing the corner and ending up in the wall or stuck in the sand.
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johdaxx 2:51PM (5/19/2009)
Nick is an ideal teammate for someone really brilliant. If I was an F1 boss, I'd totally hire the guy. If he'd been driving for McLaren last year, they'd have got the constructors too.
@timurjonchik: Nice! send us all a post card...
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