Nick Heidfeld: riding on the ejectable seat

Nick Heifeld's recent form with the BMW sauber team has been worrying to say the least: 9 seasons in formula 1, 31 years old, no victories in over 132 attempts—and worse, outpaced by young aspiring talent and teammate Robert Kubica four times this season.

After five races, Kubica is four points clear of his veteran teammate—not much of a margin yet. However, because of this, rumours in the paddock are fast gaining momentum on the possibility of seeing Nick Heidfeld being shown the door at the end of the season.

This is where it gets interesting. If Nick goes then who would replace him? In other words, who does Mario Theissen and the rest of the BMW executive board want to bring in?

Alonso has been cited already, and it is not much of a surprise considering the rise of BMW as a very strong contender to challenge the Ferraris and Mclarens alike. Fernando Alonso would be the perfect match, and if he can bring in another 0.6 secs of pace to the Viking horned car, it is safe to say that FA can bank himself on a third title and BMW on a first-ever manufacturer crown. The only problem is Fernando is interested in one thing only, and that's joining Ferrari!

Another hypothesis would be to look at what's happening at RBR at the moment. Recently, Mark Webber expressed his interest in renewing his contract with RBR. However, David Coulthard believes this is a cunning strategy to generate interests from other team managers sooner rather than later, as in "get me now before I'm gone."

I personally do not believe in such hypothesis. Why then would Webber play it this way? But in any respect, if D.C. is correct then could BMW be a potential employer of the Hobart native's services? I don't think so. Webber is a great driver but he has not won a race yet, so pairing him with Kubica would not be ideal, would it? it might work but I just do not see this happening any time soon. So if Webber is not the candidate Theissen is looking to sign, who else is available?

There were some speculations on bringing in none other than current world champion Kimi Raikkonen. This is interesting because if the Iceman was to express an interest in the BMW squad, this would open the door for Fernando Alonso to join Ferrari.

Then again, this is all speculation but demonstrates how Hedfield's leaving could potentially create a massive movement in the driver market. A much more credible scenario would be to switch Heidfeld for Button—easy to do with not much consequences at-large. But then again, where would the fun and media attention be in that respect?

Plus, how do we know for sure Button is the man for the job? Let alone whether he'd be ready to waive his loyalty towards the Barkley-based outfit, despite positive signs they're on the rise. That's thanks not only to Ross Brawn but also the hard work and reforms being imposed by Nick Fry.

Nick Heidfeld's driving seat is indeed compromised especially if a) he keeps getting outpaced by Kubica and b) if BMW keeps on improving the way they do.

Therefore it's do or die in Monaco and beyond for Nick.

The bottom line is that Heidfeld has got to perform now, not tomorrow. Otherwise he'll find himself on the ejectable seat—nothing more, nothing less!