Quick Nick overshadowed once again.

Heidfeld: where are you going next year?

While most of the motorsport world celebrates the return of Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld has just lost the chance to pilot probably the best car of his career.

Heidfeld was in discussions with Mercedes for a drive next year but all of their seats have gone. Schumacher is already talking about targeting the 2010 title with the German outfit and it seems Heidfeld has lost any chance of ever claiming a win.

He does have options though; he could return to Sauber which he knows will be a comfortable fit. Sauber has just taken on new talent Kobayashi so an experienced head alongside him would receive a warm welcome. However, Sauber may have been in the game a while but they were granted entry late so although they should be ahead of the new teams they are still expected to be midfield at best.

Another choice is to partner his former teammate Robert Kubica at Renault. Renault will need a solid driver particularly going through the transition of the Genii deal. Additionally, Kubica is only thought to have a one-year contract as he goes in hunt of a top team so Nick could be a good long term solution. But others such as Petrov have been linked to that seat so there may be a fight for that drive.

It seems cruel that a driver who has beaten the much-hyped Kubica twice has been left out in the dark while the Pole gets a fairly competitive drive. Heidfeld has delievered solid results and when the BMW was weak this year drove a great race to end up on the podium at Malaysia.

Even when Kubica was fighting for the title in 2008 Nick was able to pull out some cracking moves when needed…

Perhaps it is the quiet image that makes Nick a forgettable character but it seems wrong to me that someone who can beat Kubica (who is already labelled a future champion) can end up in a drive just to make up the numbers.