Kovalainen: Should McLaren Stick or Switch?

[Andy M]

Once again Kovalainen hardly covered himself in glory during this weekends GP.

If you were McLaren what would you do? Stick, switch or wait? If you choose 'switch', who wold it be and why?

[AndrewW-G]

Unless he's a fantastic development driver McLaren should switch him out ASAP, they need somebody who can develop and set up cars.

[Rocky Balboa]

Swap him for Alonso i think.

[deevlash]

switch him for Di Resta, Im biased, I want a Scot to cheer on again That said he did amazing things in a 3 year old dtm car norbert and whitmarsh think hes great, why not give him a year to get used to F1 when theres no real pressure as we all know the car is a duffer.

[dpbird90]

Definitely get him outta there if they are serious about WCC glory; maybe if they want a fast Finn they could tempt Hakkinen on board for one season only? He could help them set the car up properly and maybe be a frequent front runner, failing that Bruno Senna deserves an F1 chance, and his name alone should get him into a McLaren

[Hut49]

Bring back DC?

[Marcia]

Give him another chance,look at felipe baby last year,he did'nt finish the 1st 2 races either,but he then went on to have a really good year,although i may be wrong

[garycat]

Put Gary Paffett in the car coz he has a great name.

[StevenJJ]

More time. I like him, just don't think the team environment he's in is working out; doesn't seem to live with overbearing pressure or constant soap operas. Ultimately I think he will end up in another team and will move up a level in performance if he's allowed his own space.

[BBS-LM]

I must admit that Kovalainen has really not performed great compared to Lewis. After todays episode where he just lost the back-end of the car it's time to consider the options?

[deevlash]

StevenJJ said:

More time. I like him, just don't think the team environment he's in is working out; doesn't seem to live with overbearing pressure or constant soap operas. Ultimately I think he will end up in another team and will move up a level in performance if he's allowed his own space.

he didnt do much at renault either though

[patmahe]

I don't think he fits the McLaren mould particularly well, they would be better off with a new driver and he would be better off with a new team, for some reason I think he'd fit in well at Renault and Bruno Senna could be given a shot at McLaren.

I would also be trying to recruit DC as development driver if I was McLaren.

[John D.]

StevenJJ said:

More time. I like him, just don't think the team environment he's in is working out; doesn't seem to live with overbearing pressure or constant soap operas. Ultimately I think he will end up in another team and will move up a level in performance if he's allowed his own space.

The team environment is not likely to change and if he's going to end up at another team why not dump him now?

He has'nt impressed me last season or this so far. I'd get Rosberg in the car instead simply as he has a great name and is an exciting driver like Hamilton.

[mically]

Get rid.
Not every motor racing driver is cut our for F1, and I think he's one of them.
He scored half of what hamilton did last year ......... and dare I say it? He cost McLaren the championship !

If the likes of barrichello and truli can still perform at their age, then bring back de la rosa.
With limited testing available, they need someone who is ^more than capable^ of setting a car up.


^not that hamilton can't.... but DLR has so, so much valuable experience to assist.^

[John D.]

patmahe said:

for some reason I think he'd fit in well at Renault

Er... no he did'nt. I gave him the benefit of the doubt when he did'nt cut it at Renault as I know Flavio is a bit of a bd. I expected Kovalainen to be stronger in F1 judging by his impressive track record earlier in his career. He just seems a bit wet, like another Fisi/Trulli.

[flemke]

patmahe said:

I would also be trying to recruit DC as development driver if I was McLaren.

They already have one of the best in de la Rosa. The problem is that testing time is now extremely limited. You need the race drivers to spend a considerable amount of time in the car themselves, which limits the separate opportunities for a test driver, and places a premium on a race driver who is also a good tester.

[davidd]

flemke said:

patmahe said:

I would also be trying to recruit DC as development driver if I was McLaren.

They already have one of the best in de la Rosa. The problem is that testing time is now extremely limited. You need the race drivers to spend a considerable amount of time in the car themselves, which limits the separate opportunities for a test driver, and places a premium on a race driver who is also a good tester.

A fair thought, so they bin HK and get someone with a few more years experience under their belt?

Ant perhaps?

What did HK do before Renault?

D

[RJB_666]

I do think he still needs more time because he can be quick. But he is unlucky sometimes and isn't consistent. The stats are against him so far. I think him and Piquet could be without a seat soon if they don't start performing soon.

[deevlash]

I'd be begging Adrian Newey to come back if I was Mclaren, he designed fast flawed cars then Mclaren threw engineers at it to refine the details and usually ended up with a great car. Now they seem to be lacking that initial spark to make the fast base car which their itterative refinement can turn into a world beater. Im saying that on the basis that the Mclarens of the last few years seem to have followed the basic design of neweys last Mclaren car with bits refined here and there, possibly why the Newey red bulls looked a lot like them.

All that said Im not sure Mclaren actually want someone to be pushing Lewis, most of their recent success has come when, despite getting equal treatment, one driver has been clearly faster. Hakkinen 2 wdc's whilst DC wasnt able to make that last push for the, Kimi going very close all those times with Juan Pablo being a bit erratic and slower and DC doing his usual solid rear gunner role, Lewis wdc with Kov being useless. When they had 2 people both fighting, Aloso and Lewis, it all got a bit messy and in the end the two of them threw away the title and gave it to a Kimi who hasnt looked interested since he left Mclaren.

[Andy M]

flemke said:

patmahe said:

I would also be trying to recruit DC as development driver if I was McLaren.

They already have one of the best in de la Rosa. The problem is that testing time is now extremely limited. You need the race drivers to spend a considerable amount of time in the car themselves, which limits the separate opportunities for a test driver, and places a premium on a race driver who is also a good tester.

Is this the case with Kovalainen?

Which leads to an OTT thought: with the testing ban, will we in the future see each team have a 'star driver' and another who is basically a sacrificial lamb and acts almost primarily to test the car while racing?