Heidfeld explains the success of the young F1 drivers

Being 29 years old, Nick Heidfeld is one of the more experienced drivers on the Formula One grid. With a lot of interest, the German watches the development of young drivers such as his team-mates, Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel. According to Nick, a trend reversal is taking place.

More and more often, young drivers that have competed just a few years in single-seater racing, successfully make the step up to Formula One. Kubica and Vettel are just as prominent proofs of this fact as 21-year old Lewis Hamilton who was signed by McLaren as GP driver for the 2007 season.

"As I see it, this related to the fact that they start karting earlier and earlier, thus also being younger when entering single-seater racing," claims Nick Heidfeld. "Today, you can enter Formula BMW at the age of 15. And as the young guns make the first steps on the motor racing ladder at an earlier point in time, it's just logical that they also are younger when entering Formula One."

Nick was kart tracing for a long time before making it to Formula One via the Formula Ford, Formula 3 and Formula 3000. "Quite obviously, I'd loved to also make it earlier Formula One," he admits. "On the other hand, I liked kart racing a lot. It was a great time, just perfect for learning the basics of my trade. On the international level, kart racing is clearly tougher than many people would believe."

With the Formula BMW, BMW provides young drivers that have outgrown karting a perfect opportunity to make their next step on the motor racing ladder. In four international Formula BMW series, held in Germany, Great Britain, Asia and NOrth America, the new blood has got the chance of gathering first single-seater experience.