 The unheralded Heidfeld is becoming a podium regular |
When BAR were handed a two-race ban for breaking the rules at San Marino, much of the British press reaction focused on how unfair it was on Jenson Button and Takuma Sato.
The BAR drivers had, of course, just scored their first points of the season - Button finishing third, and Sato fifth.
Button, in particular, attracted considerable sympathy. This was, after all, supposed to be the year when he would emerge as a genuine candidate to join Britain's roll call of Formula One champions.
There was, however, another driver with supposedly even more to lose, yet expressions of grief on his behalf were in short measure.
Nick Heidfeld was the driver in question, and his German nationality only part of the reason for the apathy.
The main reason was that the unassuming 28-year-old has the Williams drive that Button wanted last summer.
The Englishman was frustrated by the sport's authorities that time too, but his stay at BAR was not expected to last, as Williams can exercise an option on him if Button has less than 70% of the championship leader's points by a pre-specified date this summer, reported to be 21 August.
A distinct possibility became a racing certainty when BAR were rumbled at Imola. With Silverstone only four races away, Button, who finished third last season, is without a point.
So how has Heidfeld responded? With consecutive second places at Monaco and the Nurburgring (where he qualified on pole), that's how.
When asked about the implications of Button's ban, and in particular the likelihood of Williams' 70% clause being activated, Heidfeld was relaxed.
"I think about it," he said. "But if I think about it 24-7 it's not going to help me.
"The only thing I can do is perform well. There's nothing more I can do."
And perform well is exactly what he has done.
Button may well be leaving BAR for Williams next season but Heidfeld, who also finished third in Malaysia, is looking less and less like he deserves to be the fall guy.
Which gives Williams a tricky decision to make - especially as Mark Webber, Heidfeld's highly-touted Australian team-mate, is on a long-term contract.
 Webber's presence is weighing less heavily on Heidfeld now |
The same age as Heidfeld, Webber's progress to a competitive car has been smoother than the German's.
But Webber is now seven points behind Heidfeld having been beaten by him in four of the seven races.
It seems that having finally gained the drive he felt his talent deserves, Heidfeld is not going to give it up meekly.
Could it be argued that the German's F1 career to date has been a battle for respect and the decent car which that brings?
"Yes, definitely," he said. "That's what I've been fighting and hoping for ever since I joined F1.
"I've been with teams that are OK but not teams that have been as successful as Williams-BMW."
There have, however, been times when it looked like Heidfeld's graduation to a championship-calibre car was imminent.
He pushed Juan Pablo Montoya all the way to the Formula 3000 title in 1998, and then won it himself in 1999.
Having tested for McLaren-Mercedes, he made his F1 debut in one of Prost's back-markers in 2000.
In 2001, he moved to steady Sauber, where he matched Kimi Raikkonen only to see the Finn get Mika Hakkinen's old drive at McLaren.
Heidfeld made few mistakes over the next two seasons but his failure to outpace team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen in 2003 raised eyebrows.
That resulted in a backward step to Jordan, but there he got people talking again with a series of good displays in a dreadful car.
Which brings us to Sir Frank Williams' decision to give him a chance.
 Button and Heidfeld both made their F1 debuts at Australia in 2000 |
"I didn't have a drive for a few weeks after I finished with Jordan," Heidfeld recalled.
"I had already tested for Williams in the summer but I was waiting for a telephone call from Frank - well, I was hoping!
"So when it finally happened I was very happy because that's when I could get involved in the decision-making and get out on the test track to show what I can do."
That time was clearly put to good use, as Heidfeld and Williams are now flying.
"I've settled in well, and I've been fairly happy with my performance," he said.
"Of course, we hoped we could be stronger straight away, but if you think where we were in winter testing we can be happy with the progress, because we struggled then."
So with F1 just starting to warm up for its end-of-season game of musical chairs, Heidfeld is looking increasingly unlikely to be left standing.
After that, who knows? But the man himself won't be satisfied until he has won a world championship - an ambition that is not looking so far-fetched anymore.
MMIX
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If I think about it 24-7 it's not going to help me