Heikki Kovalainen

My 1st article on clip the apex

Do you think we will ever see Kovalainen at the sharp end of the grid again? He had much potential pre-McLaren.

He spent 9 years in karting and did relatively well winning the 2000 Nordic championship. He was Formula Renault 2001 rookie of the year. He was also British Formula 3 2002 rookie of the year finishing 3rd with 5 wins. He moved to world series by nissan in 2003 and won the championship in 2004 with 6 wins. In 2005 he moved to GP2 and battled Nico Rosberg for the championship finishing runner up with 5 wins.

He built a bit of a reputation for himself by winning the race of champions in 2004 defeating David Coulthard, Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Loeb.

He was also test driver for Renault 2004 - 2007 stacking up well over 28,000km so he certainly wasn't inexperienced by his debut either.

In his debut season in 2007 he beat his experienced race winner teammate by 9 points and claimed a debut podium with 2nd in an awesome Japanese Grand Prix.

Then of course it went downhill, he joined McLaren in 2008 and was humiliated by Lewis Hamilton over the course of the year which was a shame, he showed flashes of potential in the early part of the season but did not fulfill it. It has been said that the extreme development that year was focused entirely on Hamilton and it did not suit Kovalainen's driving style and that he may not have been entirely ready for that level of competition. Either way in a car that his teammate won the championship with he gained 3 podiums, 1 pole position and a sole win.

His 2009 season at McLaren was largely anonymous compared to what Hamilton was doing with the car although he looked to be on form for Monza qualifying 4th - the highest of the 1 stoppers and one of the only KERS cars. It was a real opportunity for him to save his career at the sharp end. Sadly he went backwards in the race very quickly and finished 6th.

In 2010 of course he moved to Lotus and strangely seems to have been reinvigorated and refreshed. No points of course being one of the new teams and no testing but he finished in the official standings ahead of veteran teammate Jarno Trulli. This year the team are leaving Virgin and HRT behind and snapping on the heals of the historical williams team. Lotus are looking soon to be amongst the lower field and Kovalainen looks to be really flourishing there. Indeed last weekend he claimed the teams best ever qualifying performance with their 1st q2 session and 15th on the grid.

Jarno Trulli is near the end of his F1 career but Kovalainen is only 29, do you think when Trulli has left Kovalainen may become a real team leader there? Indeed he could do a Schumacher (maybe not quite as successful but the same principle) and really make the team his own - spend the rest of his career with the team and really move it up the field towards the sharp end of the grid over the course of several years. Personally I'd love to see him spend the next decade with the team steadily improving both team and driver and continuity is an advantage in this sport.

what do you think the future holds for Heikki Kovalainen?

PS: apologies about the essay lol.
 
Josh it depends what he wants if he wants to win races and possibly a championship then he should go to another series but if all he wants is to be in F1 and troll around at the back of the grid then he should try and find a drive for next year.

My feeling is that a race drivers most important urge should be winning otherwise whats the point, those that hang around just for the glam or prestige of F1 are not true race drivers a low level team should be a starting point for a driver not somewhere for him to end his career in.....
 
I just don't think he has the ability to be a top driver in F1 but I do feel he could do very well in a different series, and also by taking a seat in a lower team deprives a younger driver of the chance to make his mark in F1, like I said in an earlier post, he has had his chance and he blew it.

There are so few seats available and those that have tried and failed should make room for someone else to have a go...
 
siffert_fan

In reference to Heidfeld ..he's had plenty of chances because he's been backed by Mercedes to get into F1 ...only for Ron to discard him as not good enough

If he was he would have replaced DC and not be jumped by Montoya in the queue

His career was saved at Jordan because Giorgio Pantano was asked to bring in sponsorhip to keep Heidfeld going for the season... it was actually hard on Pantano and his family who were bringing £1m a race and remortgaging to do it
 
Monza 2008 he only lead 4 laps because Vettel pitted and never really challenged for the victory

The problem was for 2/3 of the weekend he looks like he was on Hamilton's pace but then at the crunch moment he fails to step up when the team needs him to

Judging by Gascoyne' comment it appears that the relationship with the team has broken down
 
Il_leone

I am not contending that Heidfeld or, indeed, HK is a likely race winner. I am merely stating that, IMHO, both are more likely to score points than the pay drivers. Of course, I don't think the bottom-feeding teams are likely to be able to entice a potential race-winning talent to join them, and therefore think that at least one proven mid-level driver would be a better option than being dependent upon the likes of a Bruno S just because he brings up-front money.
 
Phew! Back to the new years resolution then. Selectivity it is and shall remain! :D

Edit: I shall maintain my own status as CTA Like-meister based solely on members own merits :D
 
Heh, heh. Thanks teabagyokel . Always nice to have a decision backed up :D

On Pic, I'm a sceptic. I think I mentioned on some other thread that I think his record in other formulas isn't anything to write home about. It is somewhat better than a couple of the other new chaps but he's below the threshold that I would set if I were a team manager. Maybe my standards are too high:thinking:
 
Pic supposedly has some potential although its difficult to tell

Heikki though really has not got a lot left...he's not managed by Flavio anymore is he ...who was very good at getting drives ( as well as pocketing himself 25%)

Really if Williams did not the money he would be an ideal driver for them

Caterham aint going any further forward with another year of Heikki you'd think ...they are not some manufacturer team who might with the resources they would have
 
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