Nick Heidfeld: We want to promote young talent

At the start of the year we talked about how Nick Heidfeld, a former Formula 1 and Formula E driver, teamed up with Dilbagh Gill, a former Mahindra Racing team boss, to create a new electric junior series.

The first race of the ACE series is scheduled for August 2024 and Nick spoke in more detail about this project in an interview with Auto Bild, in which he acts as both co-founder and advisor.

Nick Heidfeld: “The main idea is that we want to promote young talent and give them the opportunity to drive electric cars, even in those regions where motorsport is not yet well developed. To make this possible, costs need to be reduced very significantly, and with electric vehicles this is easier to achieve.

Just as between karting and Formula 1 there are F4, F3 and F2, the aim of our series is to become the first step before Formula E. Each team will have two cars and four drivers. Two of them will perform in the junior category, two in the senior category. This is very possible with electric motors: one press of a button and the power is reduced to 180 kW instead of 250.

Our goal is not only to prepare drivers for Formula E, but also for other series. We want to hold races in four regions of the planet – first in Europe and Asia, and later in North and South America. We also want to hold two of our races in each of the regions as part of the Formula E stages.

The launch of ACE is scheduled for August 2024 – the goal is very ambitious, but preparations are in full swing. We are not afraid to introduce new ideas: the same machine will be used in two categories. On screens installed along the tracks, as well as on TV, fans will see more detailed information about the car and the progress of the race, but their presentation will be simplified. We have a lot of other ideas.”

Nick also shared his thoughts on why interest in motorsport in Germany has now declined, and why there are no really bright talents among young German racers.

“I don’t think this can stay at a very high level forever, so what’s happening is more or less normal,” he said. – After Michael Schumacher, who became the first German Formula 1 champion, there were two more: Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg.

Germany then achieved crazy success, and although our country is rich and there are many companies that produce cars, we were very spoiled. But it was very presumptuous to assume that this would continue.

That’s why it’s important to me that our series finds the best talent all over the world, including in Germany. That is why I am pleased that during the negotiations with potential German partners we feel a great interest and desire to help promote the next generation of riders.”

When Heidfeld was asked if he had any advice for Mick Schumacher on how to proceed to get a chance to return to Formula 1, he said: “Mick must always have at least one foot in Formula 1, even if it’s just as a test. Director.”.

I was once a test driver for Pirelli and a reserve driver for Mercedes. We also see the example of Nico Hulkenberg: he has already been written off three times, but is now firmly back in the saddle. You should always believe in yourself and wait for your chance. I hope everything works out for Mick.”