Heikki Kovalainen

[JimClarkFan]

What do you guys make of the Fin?

I didn't think much of him at Mclaren and I wasn't really sure why he got the drive, however he seems to be coming into his own at Caterham. He has matured a lot and I get the impression that the team rely on him and are pleased with his pace.

It will be interesting to see how he performs when Caterham push into the midfield (assuming they do).

[Just_a_fan]

Heikki beat Schumacher and others at the Race of Champions. That was enough to get him seen by F1 teams such as a McLaren. Fast but not enough to shade Hamilton. Perfect in 2009.

[snoop1050]

and schumacher beat vettel and button.

by this heikki is better than them all!

[Red Schneider]

He's probably outgrown Caterham. I read somewhere that he's a bit frustrated that they haven't made much progress relative to the worst midfield teams since 2010. I would say he's solid but unspectacular, maybe like Heidfeld as a comparison. I don't think there's any real chance of him getting a front-running seat.

As for where he would go if he leaves Caterham, I have no idea. He doesn't bring much cash if any. Maybe he could replace Senna at Williams if Senna underperforms significantly. I don't see him at Toro Rosso, Lotus or Sauber.

[JimClarkFan]

Heikki beat Schumacher and others at the Race of Champions. That was enough to get him seen by F1 teams such as a McLaren. Fast but not enough to shade Hamilton. Perfect in 2009.

Didn't know that.

The Mclaren situation is a strange one, Lewis owned that team when Ron Dennis was leading it, Heiki I never felt settled down in Mclaren, he always felt like an out sider. In Caterham I feel he is finally comfortable though, and I think he is performing better because he is secure in his position as a 1st driver. But if he changes team, will he be able to take that comfort, confidence and performance with him? - I'm not sure he can.

He seems to be the class act of the back of field, the issue is though it is difficult to judge how good that is in relative terms to those in better teams. My gut instinct says he has something that he didn't have at Mclaren but I just can't put my finger on what.

He's probably outgrown Caterham. I read somewhere that he's a bit frustrated that they haven't made much progress relative to the worst midfield teams since 2010. I would say he's solid but unspectacular, maybe like Heidfeld as a comparison. I don't think there's any real chance of him getting a front-running seat.

As for where he would go if he leaves Caterham, I have no idea. He doesn't bring much cash if any. Maybe he could replace Senna at Williams if Senna underperforms significantly. I don't see him at Toro Rosso, Lotus or Sauber.

He is significantly better in my view than Heidfield in my view, I would understand the comparison in 08/09 but not now. Trouble is I just don't know how good he actually is, Caterham must think highly of him if they keep him around despite his bringing of little money to the team.

He might well have outgrown Caterham, but where does he go is a good question. I can't see him going to a top team after being in Mclaren, at least not until he has proved that he is better placed this time around.

[Red Schneider]

I think Caterham brought him in because Fernandes was serious about setting up a legitimate operation and Kovalainen was a proper F1 driver who became available. It was a loooong way down from McLaren for Kovalainen but he needed a seat and Caterham needed a good driver. Pay drivers bring cash but have associated costs as well. (How much do you think Kartikeyan is helping to develop the HRT?)

As for Kovalainen's struggles at McLaren I would hesitate to ascribe them to psychological concerns. No one starts their career as a number one driver. You get a drive - hopefully a decent one - and then you drive your ass off. If you are fast you are fast and doors will open. There are countless examples of this. No F1 driver worth their weight needs to be coddled in that manner when they're starting out. Kovalainen wasn't fast enough; end of.

IMO of course.

[PNSD]

Are people forgetting his debut year?

It was impressive. In the 2nd half of the season he pretty much dominated Giancarlo. He showed huge promise.

Mclaren was a rough time but at least in 2009 Mclaren self confessed he did not always have the same car as Lewis. Whether or not that was the case for 2008 is not known. But facts are facts, at Mclaren he was not quick enough either way.

Since then he seems to found his form again. Personally I am a fan of his, he deserves a better seat and is certainly one of the more likeable characters out there.

[Websta]

He routinely put the Caterham further up the qualifying order than it belonged last season, in fact his qualifying form was so good that a lot of midfield runners had to do multiple runs to cover him off. He made Q2 three times, pretty impressive for both Caterham and Heikki. I rank him pretty high, top 12.

[Nando]

He is a great Formula 1 driver.

Caterham should consider themselves VERY lucky to have such a driver basically saying "well F it, might as well join a new team and help them build it"

[PlatinumZealot]

He is a good qualifier, but his race craft needs to be exercised in a better car than the Caterham.

[JimClarkFan]

I think Caterham brought him in because Fernandes was serious about setting up a legitimate operation and Kovalainen was a proper F1 driver who became available. It was a loooong way down from McLaren for Kovalainen but he needed a seat and Caterham needed a good driver. Pay drivers bring cash but have associated costs as well. (How much do you think Kartikeyan is helping to develop the HRT?)

I think Caterham are serious too, and think if Heiki sticks it out they will push midfield sooner rather than later, then we can see what Heiki is made of.

As for Kovalainen's struggles at McLaren I would hesitate to ascribe them to psychological concerns. No one starts their career as a number one driver. You get a drive - hopefully a decent one - and then you drive your ass off. If you are fast you are fast and doors will open. There are countless examples of this. No F1 driver worth their weight needs to be coddled in that manner when they're starting out. Kovalainen wasn't fast enough; end of.

IMO of course.

I doubt that he is as fast as Lewis but I think he at times really underperformed by comparison to his own abilities which makes me feel it was more that just a difference in out right pace. As PSND says below, at times he didn't have the same car as Lewis, and I have no doubt that affects someone psychologically, it can't not. We seen how Webber responded to have a different car to Vettel in 2010, a quieter guy only 25 in age may simply not have had to confidence to get over that. I'm not saying it explains everything but I am sure it was a contributing factor.

He routinely put the Caterham further up the qualifying order than it belonged last season, in fact his qualifying form was so good that a lot of midfield runners had to do multiple runs to cover him off. He made Q2 three times, pretty impressive for both Caterham and Heikki. I rank him pretty high, top 12.

He is for sure in Top 12, where in that order of merit though is difficult to say, I think I would actually struggle to put 11 drivers ahead of him judging by their relative performances.

[Red Schneider]

@JCF

I should clarify my position. I wouldn't disagree that he may have been psychologically affected by being the number two driver (e.g. the revised wheelbase issue in Valencia IIRC). My position is that if I were the team principal I would want someone a little tougher than that. To me it's the same thing with Massa. Lots of Massa apologists say that what happened at Hockenheim in 2010 was a fatal psychological blow from which he has never recovered. To them I say, jeez, it was only one race! If being asked to move over in one race cripples your confidence then you don't deserve the seat. I would want someone with the fortitude of Webber, who responded at Silverstone 2010 with a storming victory and even after getting his ass handed to him last year, is still able to pick himself up and duke it out this year. Well done to him I say.

In comparison to Kovalainen, Hamilton partnered the reigning double world champion in his rookie year, was made to feel pretty subordinate in Monaco and then stormed to victory at the very next race in Canada, fending off Alonso at the first corner and pulling out a lead of 19 seconds in 21 laps over second place Heidfeld.

[JimClarkFan]

@JCF

I should clarify my position. I wouldn't disagree that he may have been psychologically affected by being the number two driver (e.g. the revised wheelbase issue in Valencia IIRC). My position is that if I were the team principal I would want someone a little tougher than that. To me it's the same thing with Massa. Lots of Massa apologists say that what happened at Hockenheim in 2010 was a fatal psychological blow from which he has never recovered. To them I say, jeez, it was only one race! If being asked to move over in one race cripples your confidence then you don't deserve the seat. I would want someone with the fortitude of Webber, who responded at Silverstone 2010 with a storming victory and even after getting his ass handed to him last year, is still able to pick himself up and duke it out this year. Well done to him I say.

In comparison to Kovalainen, Hamilton partnered the reigning double world champion in his rookie year, was made to feel pretty subordinate in Monaco and then stormed to victory at the very next race in Canada, fending off Alonso at the first corner and pulling out a lead of 19 seconds in 21 laps over second place Heidfeld.

I understand and agree with what you said about Massa and Webber. I think though that Webber is tough from his past experiences whereas Heiki was not at the time but may have built up that toughness over the years.

Wrt to Hamilton vs Alonso, it really helps that you have a team principle which favours you. Not to take anything away from Hamilton, because what he did in his first year was remarkable and he should have won the title, but it helps when Ron Dennis is in your corner and has been guiding your career from a very early age.

[Gridlock]

I think you're being overly dramatic when discussing having a different car to LH.

LH was the reigning WDC, Heikki got a seat at one of the top 3 teams, he's not going to fall apart because spec or dev parts are fitted to the other car first. He's not a 12 year old girl.

[ESPImperium]

First off ill say im a Heiki fan.

Second, my view;

2006-2007 as a Renault test and development driver in 2006 he impressed, he was as quick as Alonso in a good few tests and quicker than Fisi consistanly in 2006 testing. In 2007 when he got his race debut he was unlucky in the early part of the season with how his races panned out but his consistant race form was where he ultimatly grew as a driver and beat Fisi 30 points to 21. He was the best of the rest in 2007 as McLaren, Ferrari and BMW had P1 to P6 in the WDC and Heiki was P7. Solid rookie season. The team then were really happy with him and his feedback.

2008-2009 in McLaren, he cam in with people already telling him he was a #2 driver, and nothing else. He came with the same attitude, however he did do alot more of Testing to Lewis, he was the one, with some assistance from PdlR and and Paffett so he was not really a #2 driver. However Quali was his weak point. He had his victory at Hungary, however he could have won at Monza in 2008, but Vettel was imperius that day and Heikis race engineer wasnt wanting to make a mistake by putting on grooves toward the end, whitch could have won him the race. In 2009 he was a shadow of what he could have became, he found it difficult to extract the maximum from a poor car and Hamilton was showing what a driver he could be on a "learning year" for him. He left McLaren with a poor phycological state.

2010-2012 at Lotus Racing first he came with a attitude of im in it for the long haul, he knew he was in a car that wouldnt be as quick straight away, however he got his head arround this fact quickly and he started to get the better of the more expeienced Trulli towards the end of the season. In 2011 in the Team Lotus T128 he showed that the car was quick enough, however it did have problems, he managed to extract the best from a car that neither Chandhok or Trulli could. He finally matured as a driver and now in the CT01 he is quick in Quali and is as quick in the race. He has finally matured as a driver i think.

Id be surprised if he moves from Caterham next year, as his contract is up at the end of the year, however with drivers in the top 3 teams posibly doing a swapsie for 2013, he could find himself in a good midfeild car next year. Id say that if McLaren loose Hamilton or Mercedes loose Michael, Di resta will replace one of them at one of those teams, whitch leads me to think that there could be at least one space at Force India for 2013, and if there is id expect to see them try to get Heiki or go for one of the top GP2 graduates for 2013. However i think he will be at the wheel of a Caterham for 2013, i recon he will sign a 2 year with Caterham holding a option for a futher third soon. Lets face it, Caterham is the team that joined in 2010 that is growing and is now much more of a established team than Marussia and HRT, and Heikki has the opertunity to build the team arround him, as every team barring maybe 3 or 4 is built arround one driver somewhere, even if the teams dont admit it or the drivers show it.