Nick Heidfeld had a solid season consolidating his reputation as a promising and reliable young driver.

He faced a potentially tricky situation, in that he was disappointed that 2001 team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was picked by McLaren instead of him – and he had a young and quick partner for the season consecutive season.

To his credit, though, Heidfeld quietly got on with the job while Felipe Massa was gaining a reputation for being quick but wild.

Heidfeld is a discreet sort of guy and it was all too easy to overlook the fact that he outqualified the supposedly speedy Massa by a ratio of about two to one.

It must be frustrating for Heidfeld to consistently show well, only for his team-mate to get all the attention – even if the attention on Massa was often far from positive.

Raikkonen’s performances at McLaren suggested that Heidfeld, too, deserves a top drive some time.

Perhaps next year, when he has the chance to test himself against a known – and very quick - quantity in Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Heidfeld will finally make people sit up and take notice.