Heidfeld gets 2nd Williams/BMW Seat

from speedtv.com -

Williams’ “F1 Idol” reality show is over, and after a long off-season of mind games and speculation, Antonio Pizzonia has been voted off the Island, leaving Nick Heidfeld as the lucky one to partner Mark “The Bachelor” Webber.

27-year-old Heidfeld was announced over Pizzonia, 24, at today’s launch of the new BMW-Williams FW27 challenger in Valencia, Spain. The German and the Brazilian went head-to-head in seven testing sessions this winter, with Heidfeld outpacing his rival five times. His overall advantage over Pizzonia, however - that is, the sum of the seven gaps between the two drivers in these sessions - accounted to just 0.129 seconds.

Besides his slight edge on the track, Heidfeld is believed to have won the spot thanks to better depth in his technical feedback to the team’s engineers. Support from also-German engine partner BMW and its sporting director, Mario Theissen, was also helpful.

"It's a big chance for me," confessed an optimistic Heidfeld. "My goal has always been to win the world championship. When that will be we will see."

Pizzonia is set to remain as the team’s test and reserve driver. Although frustrated, the Jungle Boy has committed to help Williams go forward.

"Obviously I'm quite disappointed," he said. "But I'm still quite young and there is always the future. Although this is not the decision I wanted, I'm pleased to be a part of the team and I have to do my best. I will do what I can to help the team to win the championship."

Swooping front-wing aside, the new FW27 looks conservative (LAT Photo)

Still there's hope for Pizzonia, though, as team owner Sir Frank Williams stated that Heidfeld will be under a "race-by-race evaluation," and could be replaced if he underperforms.

In five seasons of F1, Heidfeld, the 1999 Formula 3000 champion, has a best finish of third in the 2001 Brazilian GP, driving for Sauber. He defended the Swiss outfit for three seasons, after debuting for Prost in 2000. Last year, he struggled with Eddie Jordan’s cash-strapped squad.

ahh that kind of sux ... i wanted to see pizzonia race with webber .. but heidfeld is a great driver as well ...i hope they get to win some races

Originally Posted by e46krazy

ahh that kind of sux ... i wanted to see pizzonia race with webber .. but heidfeld is a great driver as well ...i hope they get to win some races

Heidfeld is a great driver? Certainly not according to Eddie Jordan.

Heidfeld is a wash. I even think Webber is far over-rated. He was good in an inferior car yet he was lackluster in a mediocre car.

I just wanted to say Congrats to Nick he deserved the seat because of the fast lap times he did to beat Antonio for the Final BMW seat. Nick should be successful finally because the FW27 looks to be a contender for now. We gotta see how reliable it will be On Opening day in Melbourne!!!!!!