rpm.espn.com: Nick Heidfeld

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Wednesday, December 19

Nick Heidfeld
ESPN.com

Team: Sauber.
Nationality: Germany

Nick Heidfeld
Heidfeld

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Poles
Podium
Best finish

2001 7 0 0 1 3rd, Brazil

Career 0 0 1 3rd, Brazil

2001 Recap
The Good: In just his second season in Formula One, Heidfeld quietly turned into a consistent points scorer for Sauber. While often overshadowed by young teammate Kimi Raikkonen, it was Heidfeld who posted the team's lone podium finish.

Season Highlight: The German picked up his first career podium finish at Brazil, sharing the stage with championship contenders David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher.

The Bad: Heidfeld found it tough to compete with the top teams at Sauber, despite the small outfit's Ferrari engines. While he posted better results and also had connections to the team, it was Raikkonen who nabbed a job with McLaren for 2002.

Season Lowlight: After getting off to a solid start, Heidfeld struggled through a mid-season three-race stretch -- Monaco, Montreal and Nuerburgring -- where he failed to finish an event.

Nick Heidfeld
Nick Heidfeld was quiet but impressive in just his second season in Formula One.

Key Stat: Heidfeld, along with Raikkonen, helped guide Sauber to an all-time best finish of fourth in the constructor's championship.

2002 Outlook
What needs to be done: It will be tough for Heidfeld to do much better than he did in 2001. The mega-funded teams -- Ferrari, McLaren and Williams -- are entrenched at the top. Therefore, it will be nearly impossible for Heidfeld to crack that group with Sauber. He will also have a new teammate -- Brazilian Felipe Massa -- to work with in 2002.

Prediction: Heidfeld will do well to stay the course. He's certainly capable of claiming another podium finish or two, even perhaps a pole or win.

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