“It will be as quick or quicker than the F1 cars I’ve driven”
We obviously know Nick Heidfeld best at Goodwood for his record-setting exploits in a McLaren Formula 1 car at the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, now coming up for 23 years ago. We simply had to ask him how the Battista feels in comparison. Are the all-electric hypercars of 2021 a patch on modern classic F1? Grounded as he is, he affirms that a luxurious hyper GT delivers a more cosseting sensation of speed than a championship-contending single-seater, even if it’s faster...
“I think the numbers are more reliable than my feelings and impressions of it. The cars, the surroundings and mindset, is so different. But we are targeting less than two seconds to 62, so it will be as quick or quicker than any F1 car I’ve driven. What is interesting is when you ask if I can compare, I think back to first tests of cars in Formula 1. You always got a feeling of what to expect, for better or worse. The first experience of the Battista was immediately positive in the way those good first F1 drives were. I was surprised how good it was. The instant performance is as you might expect more similar to Formula E. It’s much more controllable and reacts much quicker than internal combustion.”
The elephant in the room is of course, how you cultivate emotion and feeling in what is a pioneer in a new era of digital performance cars. Heidfeld is confident the Battista will deliver, even though there’s work still to be done.
“It is digital performance but with a traditional look and a traditional feel. The car drives as it looks and it looks as if it could house a V12. It’s beautiful. Digital doesn’t mean no emotion.
“We haven’t begun work on calibrating the feel of the steering yet but already, the feel and feedback you get through your body, through the carbon chassis, it’s very communicative. You feel how the car moves around on the track, over bumps and apexes. We have a good base for the steering and I have in mind what a good feeling is, but it is what we will be working on further over the next couple of months.”
Finally, we couldn’t let him go without popping the question. Are they planning to come to the Festival and will they go for a record?
“Well, we’re definitely thinking about coming to Goodwood and bringing it there,” Heidfeld says with a smirk. “We have something special in mind. Let’s hope we can make it happen.”
Encouragingly ambiguous… Don’t worry, Nick, we’re not holding our breath for a 41.6...