If true very interesting. Is he better than we see because of the limitations placed on him at Mclaren. From Crash.net Kovalainen ready 'to consider his position'? Fri 24 Oct, 03:32 PM Heikki Kovalainen's apparent 'happiness' at McLaren-Mercedes may in fact be little more than a front, it has been suggested - with claims he is already beginning to picture a future away from Woking... It has been claimed that Heikki Kovalainen is growing increasingly disenchanted at having to regularly play second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton at McLaren-Mercedes - to such an extent that he is already eyeing the end of his tenure with the squad. Whilst the Finn has repeatedly insisted in public that he is 'really, really happy' at McLaren, where he will remain in Formula 1 for a second consecutive season in 2009, Singapore broadsheet The Straits Times suggests that he is frustrated at having been cast into a mere supporting role to Hamilton at the Woking-based outfit. The newspaper explains that chief amongst Kovalainen's gripes is the fact that he is invariably sent out in the crucial Q3 phase of qualifying with more fuel on-board his MP4-23 than the sister machine - a situation that has contributed to Hamilton having led the way twelve-five in terms of grid positions thus far this season, and one that has tended to leave the driver of the #23 car with an uphill climb on race day. Whilst the Briton has set no fewer than seven pole positions this year, Kovalainen has managed just one, at Silverstone back in July - though unlike his team-mate, he has at least started every race from inside the top ten. Moreover, the 27-year-old's challenge was hampered in the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai last weekend, when a set of 'mis-matched tyres' and braking issues held the man from Suomussalmi back in the early stages before a puncture and subsequent hydraulic failure ultimately sidelined him for good and made it three outings in succession and four from the last five in which he has failed to score - leaving him as the only driver from the established 'top three' teams of McLaren, Ferrari and BMW-Sauber not sitting inside the top six in the title standings one race from the end of the campaign. According to The Straits Times, on the back of all this Kovalainen has told friends 'that if his interests are not better served next season, he may have to consider his position'.
Well, he had to realize that that was how it was going to be. After the Alonso fiasco, did he really believe he would be treated equally? And what would be his options? He had one unremarkable season with Renault, and for whatever reason, is being trounced by his current teammate. Don't know where he thinks his best place may be, but I think he should talk to Rubens before pulling out of a top team for greener pastures.
I feel his pain, but really, his path is clear. If he wants to be treated as the #1 driver, he has to perform as the #1 driver. He can't explain away all his problems as "the team screwed me". Even when he has been out on the track and light on fuel, he just hasn't shown any speed. It is counter productive for the team to give him less than the fastest car possible, so his only gripe can be fuel load really... and when his fuel load has been low (perhaps at the end of a stint, or during the Q2 session), he just hasn't had the pace that Hamilton has - not even close. Just like Piquet, Heidfeld, Nakajima, etc, etc. If they want the breaks, they have to show they deserve them. Heiki put himself into the role of support driver, because early on he showed that he was not a WDC contender this year. I feel bad, but it's all on him. And he wants to find greener pastures? Where? Certainly not Renault. Or Ferrari. Or McLaren. Or BMW. So where's he going to move... at STR or Honda he'd be the #2 all over again. He can be #1 at Force India. Then he'll never have a chance to show what he's got, and he'd be out of F1 within 2 years after that. He's got the best opportunity in the world right now - he's in one of the top cars and just needs to show what he's made of.
Wait, KOVALINEN is "reconsidering his position"? He is "disenchanted at having to regularly play second fiddle"? Hell, if Hamilton plays first fiddle, Kovalinen's part is the jaws harp...
He has not shown the speed and has not helped them in the championship. Mclaren will show him the door long before he decides to exit.
You mis-spelled Kimi Anyway, to me it shows that RD is full of crap with his so called equal status at McLaren for both drivers. Hockenheim was making that perfectly clear (moving over that early in the season? The shame! Oh, we weren't talking about Ferrari?)
Pretty much. Heikki is a great driver but now his only role, this year, is to support LH. He can win with Mclaren just as Massa is winning at Ferrari over Kimster. The chips have to fall favorably. If he cant win at Mclaren where will he ? Look at Barrachello and his ego caused bannishment from a competitive ride. Heikki is no Alonso, as far as I have seen, and cannot pick a team up per Renault. He should count his blessings then go the extra mile. The extra mile is lonely but he'll find LH there as well.
Heikki can't and will never be treated #1 at McLaren. That's what Lewis is for. That became evident last year and is clearly more defined this year. As long as Lewis is with McLaren he'll be #1. Equality between the 2 drivers is a total front. I'm sure Heikki's ultimate goal is to become WDC at some point in his career. He's better off trying to achieve that elsewhere in a different team, even if they have a lesser car, simply because of the fact that he'll be allowed to perform on his own. None of us know the true story. So it's possible that Heikki could be making excuses for his lack of performance compared to Lewis. But you also have to consider McLaren's history of having relationship issues with their drivers (whether it's against another driver or against the team).
You have to look at how the drivers compare with their team-mate to get a measure of their abilities. Compare LH with Heiki this year. Compare LH with FA last. You will see a great gap this year and from that we can judge HK's abilities. And for that part LH's and FA's. Also look at the KR and FM situations for both years. Last year KR was dominant but FM with hard work and good luck has turned the tables. This is what HK needs to aim for. It is possible but only with a top team. Mclaren is it. Any driver with any sense (except for Alonso for obvious reasons) would give their eye teeth to drive for McC's. Heikki needs to wipe his tears and change his diaper then soldier on.
Considering how McLaren treated FA last year, who was a double WDC, it is pretty safe to say that unless something drastic happens, LH will be the #1 driver at McLaren for at least the next 5-7 years.
I personally believe RD does practise no team orders, although it would be naive to say this is the case when one of his drivers is clearly head and shoulders above the other, and also has ruled himself out mathematically of running for a WDC, this was the problem for them last year. I like HK, I believe he could do well keeping up with Lewis, and snatching win's here and there. Surely he didn't accept a Mclaren drive and not expect that LH is a formidable team mate to have!! Seems a bit silly whining about it now, but who know's what goes on behind closed door's...
The should be no surprise in Kovalainen´s comments, or that is he is unhappy at McLaren. Kimi Raikkonen has shown over the years he is an excellent driver and an F1 winner. Hekki Kovalainen has in a much more limited time shown his ability that landed him a ride at McClaren, one of two currently best teams on the grid. But this year neither one has done very well, even ignoring the fact that in both cases their teammates have done much better. I do not buy this crap that either one of these guys is second rate or isn´t doing their job. But I certainly believe there are biases on any F1 team, cars are set up primarily to the specs and standards of the driver that has done the most testing, especially the latter part of a current season and the following preseason, or has been on the team longer. If Raikkonen had spent more time at the end of 2007, and preseason 2008 testing and developing, I believe his season would be much different. Kimi has complained the car does not suit his style, while Massa has out qualified Kimi all season. I will give you one guess who did most of the work on the F2008 pre season. I do believe the Ferrari is the only team with no driver bias at the start of the season, but not much can be done during the season with a car that was designed around Felipe Massa´s input. Each driver has his own driving style, his own way of taking a corner. Remember Alonso during those two WDC years would suddenly turn the steering wheel for a corner, while Schumacher turned the wheel more gracefully. You can not discount Alonso´s skill, so his style worked and the Renaults were set up to bias Alonso. Remember how Trulli complained the the Toyota was set up to Ralf Schumacher´s driving style. With Ralf gone, and Trulli doing the set-ups, the Toyotas have come alive. To find two drivers, and two test drivers that all have the same driving style would be near impossible. To imagine that the McLarens are not biased to Hamilton´s driving style is naive. Kovalainen may have good reason to complain, but he should have known going into the deal this would happen. Hamilton is and all season has been the clear number one at McLaren. Heikki is much better than he has shown, but at McLaren Kovalainen will always be a number two driver. Possibly with an equal car, in terms of one that was set-up for Hekki´s style, he would still be in contention for the WDC.
How they 'treated' him??? You mean, gave him a WDC-winning car and let him compete for the title with all the other cars on the grid, including their own? Oh, what horrible treatment... how terrible for Fernando that he wasn't coddled and ensured he had all the goodies given to him and denied to his teammate! Cry me a river!
HK knew exactly what he was going to when he went to McLaren. If he dosnt like it then he should leave.
The only thing he should not be happy with is his performance. If he drove better, he would be less of a guinea pig and more of a team leader
No need to guess, that would be Kimi. About two or three races into the season I went back to PitPass.com and tallied the total testing miles for the Ferrari drivers starting from Jan 2008. Kimi was on top. It's in one of my posts somewhere back there.
If it's true he's sent out for Q3 with typically more fuel than LH then that suggests he has little to no input on fuel loads and qualy/race strategies. Seems like they dictate how he is to race. Perhaps that is what is under his skin and understandably.
FA was a 2xWDC and LH was a rookie driver, logically speaking, if they were really both on equal terms, who do you think will be the faster of the two ? And if we look at it from a team's perspective, who do you think should be #1 and who should be #2 ? and no, there is no way any team can truely say that they are both equal because one of them will have to be running heavier than the other due to the extra fuel load. And judging from FA's performance at Renault this year (Not only on his two wins so far this year, but more importantly, how he was able to help in developing the car and make it competitive again this year), he has clearly shown that his driving abilities are still all there. Now, let me ask you this, how is it possible that a rookie, who was still making plenty of mistakes in his 2nd year, can take on a 2xWDC so easily without any outside help ? And yes, McLaren-Mercedes was not able to "coddle and ensure" that FA of his #1 status, but they sure don't have any trouble coddling and ensuring that LH as their #1 driver this year from the start, do they ? And just for the record, I believe in team order and I also think LH has the potential to be a great driver in F1.
I believe the problem was, FA expected to be #1 driver, and as I stated earlier I believe RD lets his drivers race other, it rather speaks for it's self last year, because they probably lost the WDC because of it. Another factor, I would have thought, FA wouldn't have expected LH to be SO quick out the box so to speak..
