ESPNF1 Staff
August 18, 2011
Nick Heidfeld has scored points in six races so far this season © Getty Images
Nick Heidfeld "has not consistently been what we would want", according to Renault majority shareholder Gerard Lopez.
Heidfeld replaced the injured Robert Kubica at the start of 2011 as Renault opted for experience in order to develop its innovative R31 and lead the team. Lopez told ESPNF1 in an exclusive interview that he was initially pleased with the job Heidfeld had done, but that since his third place in the second race in Malaysia he has not delivered the consistent performances the team was looking for.
"I'm happy with Nick's pre-season in terms of helping develop the car and the complications that come with that," Lopez said. "I'm happy with his first part of the season but not totally happy with his leadership and performing within the team. We brought Nick in because he's a much more experienced driver than Vitaly [Petrov] and he did a very good job with the podium in Malaysia but he has not consistently been what we would want from an experienced driver like him."
Petrov, however, has impressed with his development and improvement, and Lopez says he believes there is still more to come.
"Vitaly is maturing exactly the way we expected him to and except for a couple of bad races his performances have been pretty consistent and he has qualified in the top ten pretty much everywhere except for two races and scored a podium in the first race.
"He's only one and a half seasons into Formula One and with him we still expect some important growth. He has shown that he still has quite a way to go and has quite a bit in him still in terms of race craft, managing traffic and so on. But that comes with experience and I think he can add a couple of notches to where he should be."
Credit: ESPN F1 (en.espnf1.com)
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