So how good is Kovalainen?

[MattF1]

Now that Heikki has won his first race I thought I would ask you all just how good is he?

Do you think that he is a good driver who has been underacheiving. Is he world champion material? Is he an average driver in a good car?

Perhaps some people on here know how much feedback he gives to the team, during testing and races. Obviously McLaren see something in him as they are keeping him on until next season.

[RH1300S]

IMHO he is a very good driver - so far he hasn't looked quick against Lewis, but I feel that we will see a better Heikki soon.

The Race of Champions is a pretty good barometer of raw driving skill (perhaps even more so if you watch the event live).

Stand-out drivers at ROC for me: Vettel, Prilaux, Schumacher (M), Kovalainen

World Champion material? Right now I would say possibly (in the right circumstances) rather than obviously.

[gabsy]

I think I will be judging Heikki on next season. He would have had time to settle in by then, and it will be interesting to see whether he has closed the gap on Hamilton by then.
By the sounds of news stories, it sounds like McLaren like him because he is a team player.
The fact he gets on with Hamilton will help too because noone wants a situation like last year in McLaren again!

[bhall]

He has set two fastest-laps this season compared with Hamilton's zero fastest-laps. While that's not always the best barometer for overall pace, I think it does show he has great raw speed.

However, I doubt he'll ever be able to do anything special as long as he's at McLaren with Hamilton as his teammate.

[MattF1]

Thanks for the responses, I rate Kovalainen as a good driver who needs more time to improve but someone I was talking to said that he wasn't a great driver and said he has not shown that he is a good driver this season and his win, by default, was on a car suited to the track, and was only his second podium.

[Miguel]

I've been somewhat unhappy with Heikki's pace this year. Although he's had some great stints and he's been qualifying pretty good, his race pace has been nowhere near Hamilton's the whole year. Even if you discount excpetional races such as Silverstone, Heikki was slow in Canada and in Germany. In Bahrain and in Hungary he was mostly lackluster (i.e. bad) until the very last stint. Is he good? Yes. Should he be better? Yes, if he doesn't want to be the finnish Fisichela.

The one thing he can hold in his defense is that he's racing Hamilton in Hamilton's house, and no one can deny he's one of the most talented drivers to enter F1 in the last decades.

[PlatinumZealot]

I think with Hamilton as his partner it will boost his performance. The same effect that Schumacher had on Barichello.
It's like school hang around with smart people and you will try be be smart too.

[alex1015]

I'm really not sure what to think about Heikki. On one hand he is probably settling in still in a team that probably is very much in love with Hamilton. Despite the teams policy of equality it is probably difficult to remain non-partial.

At times Heikki has looked quick yet it's pretty evident on the whole he's been outclassed by Hamilton. His first few races this year were nothing great mainly due to bad luck but he's improved. Similarly, last year he was nearly canned and then went on to do very well. So perhaps he'll continue to improve this year and by next year we'll see his true form.

I suppose in all it's still a bit too early to make a conclusion yet.

[andartop]

i think a guy who can beat schumi and loeb fair and square is a pretty good damn driver!!!

[Miguel]

I think with Hamilton as his partner it will boost his performance. The same effect that Schumacher had on Barichello.
It's like school hang around with smart people and you will try be be smart too.

It's funny I have just the opposite feeling. IMHO, Barichello improved in the first two years with Ferrari but, after that, Schumacher just smashed his confidence to pieces. You would see Rubens trying weird things and strategies because of that.

[vyselegend]

I've been somewhat unhappy with Heikki's pace this year. Although he's had some great stints and he's been qualifying pretty good, his race pace has been nowhere near Hamilton's the whole year. Even if you discount excpetional races such as Silverstone, Heikki was slow in Canada and in Germany. In Bahrain and in Hungary he was mostly lackluster (i.e. bad) until the very last stint. Is he good? Yes. Should he be better? Yes, if he doesn't want to be the finnish Fisichela.

My view exactly.

I actually found he was better last year (second part of the season) while fighting against Nico's Williams, than this year where he is disappointing me very much. We were all critisizing Fisi quite hard when he had only one win in 2005 or 2006, but Kovy's win is even more luck based, and overall result of his confrontation with Hamilton is reminding very much of Fisi versus Alonso at Renault indeed.

IMO he's one of the 3 second drivers who MUST up their games to deserve their seat, along Heidfeld and Bourdais. I now consider Piquet and Glock to have more merit up to now given their respective positions in not so good cars.

[andartop]

what's so bad about heidfeld's performance? last time i checked he was only 8 points behind kubica, and that after usually starting every race 3-5 places behind kubica!!! this is good race performance for me, though he definitely needs to improve quali... the single driver who absolutely HAS to up his performances this year is no other than kimi, and i say this being a ferrari and kimi fan. i believe kovi will just keep performing better and better, and soon we ll see him giving lewis a run for his money.

[Ciro Pabón]

First, welcome, andartop.

Second, I heartily agree with you, but I think that the problem is that the McLaren car is perhaps 0.5 seconds faster than the BMW. That explains the criticisms: people (naturally) compare drivers in the same team.

On a side note, me, I'm happy with any driver in F1, I'm always capable of finding something good in all persons I've known in my life, but that's me. One of my mottos: nobody is as bad as not to be good at something, watch them and try to learn from them.

However, Kovalainen needs to beat Hamilton to be considered good by some people. The fact that the guy "flies on the ground" doesn't impress them as much as it impress you and me.

[shotzski]

In my opinion, Heikki is a very good driver. He has done a lot of testing before landing a F1 seat. It's just that he's not that settled with in the team yet unlike Hamilton is. But I believe he's settling in now(getting more comfortable), so let's just wait and see and he can bring, especially next season.

And talking about him playing 2nd fiddle, at this moment, it's the most logical thing to do since he's 6th in the standings. It's better to have 1 driver fighting for the championship than none right. He will still get the same equipment and chance to win again, given he performs much better than Hamilton. Cheers!

[Roland Ehnström]

In terms of pure speed, I don't believe Heikki has quite as much as Hamilton, Alonso, Kubica, Räikkönen (in his good old days) or Rosberg (when he's motivated), but he's not a long way behind. His big strength is that he is ultra smooth, much like Heidfeld, and it will win him more races - maybe even a championsip with a bit of luck.

Hamilton and Kovalainen are a bit like Senna and Prost in fact, only much better buddies. If I were a team boss in F1, I'd love to have Kovy in my team. And Lewis. Thinking about it, McLaren probably have the best driver lineup at the moment, so if I were Ron Dennis I would sign them both for another three years at the very least.