PHIL AGIUS

Weblog: Sports editor's view

F1 grid is worse off for
the lack of Quick Nick

LUCAS DI GRASSI, Nico Hulkenberg, Vitaly Petrov, Bruno Senna and Jose Maria Lopez – all drivers with zero F1 starts to their name who are currently due to begin the new season. But while they all get their chance there's no place for one of the most consistent drivers of the last decade, who is still quite capable of doing a top-class job.

The expansion of the F1 field from20 to a hoped-for 26 cars (there remains speculation that new boys USF1 in particular and Campos may not make it to the grid) is all well and good but it's a huge shame that despite more seats none of them have gone to the talented and consistent Nick Heidfeld.

Quick Nick failed to find a race seat after the dispersal of the BMW team and has now ended up as the reserve driver at the all-German Mercedes outfit behind returning legend Michael Schumacher and former Williams man Nico Rosberg.

Aged only 32, he's a full nine years younger than Schumi, and while Rosberg is the son of a world champion he's yet to do much to show that he has the potential to be one himself. He can be fast but you couldn't convincingly arguethat he'd either be quicker or more reliable than Heidfeld.

Heidfeld does, after all, hold some notable F1 records - the most successive classified finishes with 41 (which was only ended when Adrian Sutil smashed into him at Singaporelast year), and three that come with a caveat - the most F1 points by a driver without a win (219) and the most second places without a win (eight) and most podiums without a victory (12).

That all screams "HE HASN'T WON A RACE",  but then neither has Rosberg and, indeed, that might easily have not been the case. It almost certainly wouldn't apply if Heidfeld had been in a different team to his BMW colleague Robert Kubica at Canada in 2008.

The pair were on different fuel strategies and the heavy one-stopping Heidfeld allowed the lighter-fuelled Pole to pass him, after which he skipped clear and built a lead that brought him his own first victory instead.

Never one of the luckiest guys around, it's still a fair bet that Heidfeld's career, when it does end, is far more decorated and memorable than most of the rookie drivers who are racing this year while he hangs around the paddock.

Then again, again, if Schumi's neck proves troublesome again, Heidfeld will be back in the game and it's a fair bet there's plenty more left in the tank.