And took himself back to the start of of the 2008 year to repeat his time at McLaren as his current self and not the Kovalainen of back then how much better do you think he would fare? Despite the vast amount of experience he had at that point having only completed 1 season he clearly wasn't ready for the top level and the amount of competition he would be facing from Hamilton and from BMW for that matter, even Alonso beat him in the Renault. 1 win, 3 podiums and a pole position compared to the 7 wins, 15 podiums and 11 pole positions of his teammate was clearly a pretty bad thrashing. Of course the fact that his teammate was favoured over him and the car was developed towards him can't have helped pyschologically either but the race I always think spelt his end was Monza 2009. After qually I really thought he was going to win, he was 4th on the grid, he was one of the only KERS cars and he was the furthest forward of the 1 stoppers. But he just went backwards in the race. Since going to Lotus/Caterham though he seems to have flourished, grown a lot in confidence, had the better of his teammates which must help for the confidence and I'm not sure If this is right but since 2010 I think he is the only new team driver to get into Q2 which he has done on several occasions. Every race you assume Kovalainen will do the best of the new teams, and he very nearly took 12th at Monaco, I think he was running as high as 5th in Spain by lap 14. I think since 2009, he has a lot more confidence, a lot more speed, a loot more pace and being in the Caterham for over 2 years must have improved his technical skills as well. So If he could go back now and do it again, how do you reckon he would do? Beat the BMW's and Alonso in 2008? Get a couple of podiums in 2009, still be at the team in 2010? Or just be the same as he was?
He has needed to click the refresh button, and good on him doing that. Caterham is progressing slowly beating Marussia and HRT consistently, and it wouldn't be happening if a solid and pleasant driver like Heikki was not there to guide them along that is for sure. He will come good. And after Monaco I have seen he is a fiesty racer too what a guy!!
he was really poor at mclaren. I dont think he is that much better at caterham. being level with old man Truli and Petrov isnt that great. He also seems to backlash at teams too. Look what he said about Renault and Mclaren...
He was quite poor at McLaren in comparison to his team-mate, who had been helping develop the car for what? 5 years? Is he that much improved, or is the competition at the back really only between him and his team-mate? he gained well at monaco through the crash at the start, and we all know that once ahead at Monaco it's hard to over-take. I'm not sure if he would be that much better if he could wind the clock back.
I doubt McLaren was a pleasant place to be in 2008, I suspect he was overwhelmed by it, TBH. On a more general level, I think it's a cautionary tale about giving drivers time and a proper chance to develop; too many get dumped too quickly, although I realise that pressure to perform is an integral part of the sport and the business.
The guy doesnt deserve to be at the back. He did pretty well in 2008 for his first season in McLaren, they didnt have the best car, Ferrari did imo. 2009 was a horrible car, but Lewis was able to drive around the problems from mid season, very similar to what Lewis is doing at the moment in McLaren. Would like to see him in a Sauber or Williams pushing near the front.
