[Driver] Is Kovalainen really that bad?

[Chatters]

I can't see why there's all this talk of replacing wanting him to be replaced. He had a good year last year, he scored three podiums, took a win, and finished 7th in the drivers championship, as well as playing a solid number 2 at McLaren. Surely if McLaren were even thinking of replacing him, wouldn't they logically look at the drivers who finished ahead of him? All of which have contracts for 2009.

But honestly, why would McLaren want to get rid of a driver who clearly has pace, but not enough to challenge his excellency Lewis Hamilton?

[Peat]

Of course they won't replace him. They are now the only top team with a clear Number One driver. That should put them in good stead for another drivers championship.

However, i was expecting Heikki to own Lewis last year. I was really dissapointed.

Heikki says that the team scuppered his chances by fueling him heavier in qualy, but thats a whole other can of worms....

[Super Hans]

Heikki's not bad at all, but he's no world beater either. He's the perfect team-mate for Hamilton. The Berger to his Senna. The Patrese to his Mansell...etc

[Ingsy]

I expected his pace to be closer to that of Lewis, if I'm honest. Only 3 podiums, a lucky win and seventh in the WDC? Not really good enough considering what his teammate managed and what the car was capable of. Vettel managed a win and he was driving a Torro Rosso...

However, I agree with others here - he's a perfectly good teammate for Lewis as he won't take points away from him. He needs to be able to take more points away from Lewis rivals though.

[VIVA GT]

I think 2009 will be his year...

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

I think 2009 will be his year...

Did he put out a press release to that effect?

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Ingsy

Vettel managed a win and he was driving a Torro Rosso

Torro Rosso cars are one of the best cars in the field. Designed by uber-designer Adrian Newey and powered by Scuderia Ferrari. It outclassed many teams, even though the drivers were more or less rookies.

[Satorian]

Originally Posted by Razor

Torro Rosso cars are one of the best cars in the field. Designed by uber-designer Adrian Newey and powered by Scuderia Ferrari. It outclassed many teams, even though the drivers were more or less rookies.

I think it was the drivers that pushed the STR further up the field than it deserved to be. Mediocre car flung around by one exceptional and one pretty good driver.

[juicy sushi]

Originally Posted by Satorian

I think it was the drivers that pushed the STR further up the field than it deserved to be. Mediocre car flung around by one exceptional and one pretty good driver.

the car wasn't mediocre. probably the best motor in the field, and a good newey designed chassis. vettel took advantage of the wet and ran hard when the better teams couldn't.

other than that, the results weren't mindblowing, but to call the car mediocre would be a mis-characterization...

[Maccafan]

He's not really good enough to be a Mclaren driver. There's never been a number 1 driver at Mclaren until the championship is out of reach of one of them.

I know it was his first season at Mclaren but the only time he really supported Lewis was the first corner at Brazil. The rest of the time he was getting beaten up by BMW's and Renaults. Even Nelson Piquet Jr got a podium.

[Glen]

All this talking HK down is stupid. McLaren's claim to have equal status for their drivers is just a flat out lie. Nothing would make them compromise on the Hamilton dream, so HK gets to be number two.

He will prove the naysayers wrong with a better season I am certain. Good luck to the guy - seems like a nice bloke as well as good driver.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by Glen

All this talking HK down is stupid. McLaren's claim to have equal status for their drivers is just a flat out lie. Nothing would make them compromise on the Hamilton dream, so HK gets to be number two.

I've followed both Heikki's and Lewis's careers from FRenault onwards, and it is fairly clear who is the superior driver. If McLaren were to give them equal No.1 status, it'd still be Hamilton who came out on top.

[Glen]

Originally Posted by Super Hans

I've followed both Heikki's and Lewis's careers from FRenault onwards, and it is fairly clear who is the superior driver. If McLaren were to give them equal No.1 status, it'd still be Hamilton who came out on top.

I never said he was equal to Lewis, who is obviously exceptional. But I am saying that the picture is clouded by the McLaren way of going about business.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by Glen

I never said he was equal to Lewis, who is obviously exceptional. But I am saying that the picture is clouded by the McLaren way of going about business.

There's nothing cloudy about it, to my eyes. Lewis is the better driver, and therefore he is McLaren's de facto No.1.

[Glen]

Originally Posted by Super Hans

There's nothing cloudy about it, to my eyes. Lewis is the better driver, and therefore he is McLaren's de facto No.1.

The cloudy bit is that McLaren absolutely swear that they have equal status drivers, when they obviously do not. So - a degree of the difference in performance goes down to getting second choice on strategy and having to make do with a less than optimal set-up and not having control of car development - and then there is the additional difference from pure driving ability.

So - it most certainly is a clouded picture, although I would tend to agree that even with completely equal treatment LH would be likely to be ahead. Just not as much ahead as the results suggest.

[runshaw]

Originally Posted by Super Hans

I've followed both Heikki's and Lewis's careers from FRenault onwards, and it is fairly clear who is the superior driver. If McLaren were to give them equal No.1 status, it'd still be Hamilton who came out on top.

I have also followed both careers very closely. That sums it up really. Hamilton is a world-beater in every sense of the word; multiple titles in junior formulae, huge amount of wins, extaordinary performances in an F1 car (that is stating the obvious). Heikki is extremely good, but falls far short of Hamilton.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by runshaw

I have also followed both careers very closely. That sums it up really. Hamilton is a world-beater in every sense of the word; multiple titles in junior formulae, huge amount of wins, extaordinary performances in an F1 car (that is stating the obvious). Heikki is extremely good, but falls far short of Hamilton.

Completely agree. All this heavy fuel nonsense is just more sour grapes from people who want to detract from Hamilton's accomplishments. If McLaren really wanted a pigeon alongside Lewis, it would've been easier to put Pedro de la Rosa in the car.

It's worth remembering that Heikki was only McLaren's 3rd choice for 08. Their first choice was in fact Rosberg and 2nd choice was Vettel.

McLaren, IMO, always seek to put the most competitive drivers available in their cars. If Kubica were to become available, I'm sure they'd want to partner him with Hamilton as well. Kovalainen has it all to prove in 2008.

[Maccafan]

Don't get me wrong. I think HK is talented in his own right. He just always seemed to be paced around the BMW's last season without really challenging them. He didn't seem to really be pushing the limit of his powers as he should by overtaking, or at least trying to overtake people. He should have been doing better than that given his machinery. I hope he does improve this season though. I'd be as happy for him to win WDC as Lewis.

[nic.v814]

I think he will do better this year and i dont think he will be replaced simply because he knows his place in the team and he doesnt complain

[Adam43]

Here we go again.

I hope Kovalainen has a better year. And I think he will. There were a few examples of his ultimate talent last year. Lets see if he can have more of them...

[JamesH]

Only his first season in a Mclaren, so LH had a bit more experience. I think he will do better this years, but not as well as LH....unless....I do have slight inklings at the back of my mind that maybe LH won't do so well this year. Don't know why.

[Super Hans]

Can we blame the sinister machinations of McLaren for Kovalainen's wretched performances in early 2007?

[Glen]

Eh? He comprehensively beat his team-mate in his rookie year. What's wrong with that?

[Knowlesy]

It is clear that the evil Lewis/McLaren axis is preventing Heikki from dominating the sport.

[Ralf's Girl]

Of course he's not "that bad" - okay, McLaren want a driver who won't rock the boat as Lewis's team-mate after the disaster zone that was 2007, but that doesn't mean they want a bad driver on board.

He's a much better driver than last season suggests, although I do think he'll unfortunately always fall short of being as good as Hamilton (though most drivers fall short of being that good). Looking purely at his results, 2008 was a pretty bad season, but then if you dig a bit deeper, you have car failures and a lot of bad luck that never afflicted Hamilton. Without that, I don't think he would have challenged for the title but he would have scored a lot more points.

His qualifying pace was frequently very good last season, disguised by the fact that he had so much fuel on board that he may as well have been towing a caravan. Inexplicably, McLaren ruined his most clear-cut chance of a win (at Monza) by fuelling him too heavily, even though Hamilton was well out of the running for the victory. If that weird strategy stops this season, he might just make Lewis a little bit uncomfortable, at least in qualifying. And if he sorts his race pace out, which is where he was lacking in 2008, I don't think he'll be as far away from his team-mate as people seem to be expecting.