Heikki Kovalainen: the driver debates

30th August 2008, 7:00 by Keith Collantine 38 Comments »

Heikki Kovalainen became an F1 winner in this year\'s Hungarian Grand Prix

Heikki Kovalainen became an F1 winner in this year's Hungarian Grand Prix

Heikki Kovalainen has had an odd introduction to Formula 1. After bagging a seat with reigning champions Renault in 2007, he made his debut as the team hit a slump in performance.

He made a poor start to the year but quickly rallied, and beat his vastly more experienced team mate Giancarlo Fisichella on points over the course of the year.

Renault dropped him anyway – and though he found a new berth at an even more competitive team, he has faced the unenviable task of partnering Lewis Hamilton. How well is he doing?

Kovalainen impressed in GP2 in 2005. Despite not winning the championship (he was runner-up to Nico Rosberg) he showed consistency and speed… and some poor luck. Much the same can be said of his 2008 campaign so far.

Last year he made his F1 debut in an evil-handling Renault R27, and his maiden race was punctuated with several spins, leading Flavio Briatore to make his infamous remark that surely Kovalainen’s brother had been driving the car instead.

After a few races in the doldrums Kovalainen got a handle on the R27 and rebounded. At Montreal – the same race where current team mate Lewis Hamilton scored his first win – Kovalainen raced from 22nd to fourth.

From that point on the balance of power at Renault had shifted. Now Kovalainen was usually the team’s best hope for points, and at Fuji he put in a virtuouso drive in shocking weather to beat Kimi Raikkonen to second.

After such a successful turn-around it was, on the face of it, a surprise to see Renault let Kovalainen go. But in the real world, Renault had the chance to get Alonso back and they knew they were more likely to do that if they brought someone more financially beneficial to them – and less threatening to Alonso – so Nelson Piquet Jnr got the gig.

(I think Renault may come to regret that. Piquet’s form this season has been mixed at best, and Alonso is considering a move to Ferrari, or Honda, or both.)

Kovalainen landed on his feet however, stepping into Alonso’s vacant slot at McLaren. Rumours suggested the team wanted Nico Rosberg, but he wasn’t available, and considered Mark Webber, but cast him aside when he made one blunt remark too many.

Early in the season Kovalainen often looked capable of matching Hamilton for pace, but suffered some vile luck. The safety car ruined his race at Melbourne, he lost five places on the grid in Sepang, had a huge crash after a component failure in Barcelona and picked up a puncture on the first lap in Istanbul.

However in recent races Hamilton has had the edge. Kovalainen was left floundering in his team mate’s wake at Silverstone, and lagged behind at the Hockenheimring and Valencia.

He wasn’t quite on the pace at the Hungaroring either – but he was quicker than Raikkonen and the BMWs, and when events turned in his favour he was perfectly placed to collect his maiden win. It may have been fortunate, but given his luck early in the season only the hardest of hearts would have begrudged him it.

It came a few days after McLaren confirmed a one-year extension to Kovalainen’s contract. That is an endorsement of the form he has shown this year, but it carries hints that McLaren still have an eye on someone else for 2010, or are at least keeping their options open.

Martin Whitmarsh explained some of the ways he thinks Kovalainen has improved during the year:

Heikki’s much more adept at switching effortlessly between engine-saving, brake-saving and tyre-saving modes, and he knows exactly when to push, so the situation he encountered at the start of the year when he was dealing with slightly more tyre degradation is no longer a concern.

The reality is that Heikki’s particularly strong when he’s got the car in front in his sights. When he homes in on another competitor then his natural competitive instincts really come alive.

Now 27 points behind his team mate in the title race, Kovalainen will surely be relegated to playing the number two role soon. Although no driver wants to be subjugated to supporting his team mate’s title bid, Kovalainen is probably wise enough to see it as an opportunity to cement his evident popularity within the team.

Next year his luck may change, but if it does, will he have the raw pace to take on Hamilton in the same team? The jury’s still out on that. Give your verdict on Heikki Kovalainen below.

Read more about Heikki Kovalainen: Heikki Kovalainen biography

Will Renault regret replacing Heikki Kovalein (right) with Nelson Piquet Jnr?

Will Renault regret replacing Heikki Kovalein (right) with Nelson Piquet Jnr?

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