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[racechick]

Has anyone else heard this rumour? Apparantly Lewis let the cat out of the bag at Mercedes end of season celebration. He was interviwed about his possible team-mate. He mentioned Suthil(his mate) and Nico( known to be a favourite by the team) but he also mentioned Heidfeld and he mentioned it as though the rumour was generally known-which it wasnt-but it is now
There is an article by Mark Hughes in autosport (autosport.com) which gives a good arguement for choosing Nick. I think it makes sense.Assuming contracts can be negotiated, What do you think?

[Carl Spackler]

Are you sure it wasn't Heikki? When I read the story about Hammy mentioning a teammate it was Rosberg, Heikki, and Sutil.

[racechick]

Yes definately Nick. I cat find it on autosports website but I have the mag beside me. I'll quote from the start of the article
"Interwieved at Mercedes' end of season celebrations last week, Lewis Hamilton let something interesting slip about McLaren's possible choices of replacement for FA. He mentioned NR and AS- both names that were bandied around long before it was even confirmed that Alonso was leaving-before mentioning Nick Heidfeld. Lewis said it in a way that suggested he assumed the rumour was already out there-but it wasn't"
The article goes on to analyse this choice of partner and it does make sense.

[madbrad]

If that's true about Nick then it's a shame. Sure The McLaren is a better car and guarantees you a couple race wins, but if one is to leave BMW, it should have been 2 seasons ago. they are just now coming onto form, and the person who fills Nick's seat, if this is true, is a very lucky man.

[darwin dali]

I agree madbrad - I'd be shocked if it's true. I would think that by now NH has developed a sense of ownership of the successes the BMW-Sauber team is having

[Ron Dennis]

It would be a great move for Tricky Nick or any other driver who can handle a fair fight with his team mate.

McLaren will be producing WDC winning cars and though BMW may reach that height, they akso may not. They could be next seasons Honda, something you dont expect to see from Ferrari or McLaren

[cap-dude]

No chance what so ever.
For one, Doc Mario would go mad if someone wanted to break their contract, hes a tough guy.

Besides, Nick already stated he is aiming to win a title with BMW

[Ron Dennis]

no contract is air-tight and though I dont expect Nick to come to McLaren, it is not impossible.

[McLaren Fan]

It would be a great move for Tricky Nick or any other driver who can handle a fair fight with his team mate.

McLaren will be producing WDC winning cars and though BMW may reach that height, they akso may not. They could be next seasons Honda, something you dont expect to see from Ferrari or McLaren

McLaren have been unreliable and inconsistent for years. 2007 is the first year in a long time McLaren have produced an equally fast and reliable car. Also, with the FIA poking about, who's to say what McLaren's car will be like next year.

I'd be surprised to see Heidfeld at McLaren. It was only a week or so ago he seemed to suggest his desire to stay at BMW as they look to be heading in the right direction.

[Ron Dennis]

Kimi came close to winning the WDC against a dominant Ferrari and the mighty Schumacher twice!

Last years car was so bad due to a number of things but mainly through broken promises by other team leaders.

I would hardly say McLaren have been in the doldrums

[McLaren Fan]

Kimi came close to winning the WDC against a dominant Ferrari and the mighty Schumacher twice!

Last years car was so bad due to a number of things but mainly through broken promises by other team leaders.

I would hardly say McLaren have been in the doldrums

I wouldn't say in the doldrums, but nowhere near the level the team should be at. A team McLaren should be looking to win both championships ever season. Since 2000 or 20001 McLaren have not been good enough:

2000: Slight problems with reliability
2001: Poor chassis and electronic faults
2002: Even poorer chassis and shoddy aerodynamics
2003: What happened to the millions spend on the new car?
2004: Poor reliability, horrible engine and aerodynamics which would make a London bus seem streamlined
2005: Great car but sadly not reliable
2006: Yet another weak engine and some reliability gremlins
2007: At last. The first car since about 1999 worthy of winning both championships

So, in the doldrums? No. Close to winning. Generally not.

[Cillit Bang]

I rate Heidfeld highly as a driver, and think it's slightly unfair he's been overlooked by the very top teams during his career.

In the past, he was teammates with both Raikkonen and Massa at Sauber, and outscored them both. Yet, Raikkonen was chosen to drive for McLaren, while Nick ended up at Jordan.

I'm not in any way saying Raikkonen shouldn't have got the McLaren drive, more that it's a shame Nick has always been overlooked.

I don't think he'll move to McLaren this year though.

[Ron Dennis]

McLaren were coned into last year’s car, I’ll have to publish that story sometime

but

2001 Second in Drivers and Constructors
2002 Second in Drivers and Constructors
2003 Third Constructors
2004 Disastrous start with strong car by the end of the season
2005 10 wins in the season - more than any other team
2006 Were fooled into building a car around the single race tyre strategy
2007 Won the WDC and second in the drivers due to the other team using illegal team orders

its not that bad.....and remember that Ferrari had a s*** time during the late 70's, 80's and 90's but no one suggested NOT driving for them!

[darwin dali]

You just hit on the difference between Ferrari and any other team...

[7UpJordan]

its not that bad.....and remember that Ferrari had a s*** time during the late 70's, 80's and 90's but no one suggested NOT driving for them!

Hmm... I wouldn't say late 70's considering they picked up 2 Championships through Lauda in 1977 and Scheckter in 1979.