14-Dec-07: McLaren Confirm Kovalainen For 2008
I’m Christine and this is F1 Minute for Friday the 14th December 2007.
McLaren have confirmed that Heikki Kovalainen will be joining them as Lewis Hamilton’s partner for 2008, with Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett remaining as third driver and test driver respectively. It’s the second time Kovalainen has replaced Fernando Alonso in a team, after joining Renault in 2007 as the double champ left. Now he fills the Spaniards boots once more, and McLaren believe they have a formidable line up for the new season.
McLaren also announced that they have no plans for a 2008 launch at all, compared to the spectacular display in Valencia this past year. So far it looks like the car will just take to the track at Jerez, with no fanfare, and pictures will be circulated to the media at the same time.
It’s also worth mentioning that Williams have signed Nico Hulkenberg as test driver after he impressed them at Jerez. And it’s probably not worth mentioning, Honda have announced their intention to announce their test driver at some point before Christmas.
That’s all for today, have a great weekend, and join me on Monday for another F1 Minute.
Published by Christine on 14 Dec 2007 at 06:26 pm
Tags: Fernando Alonso, Gary Paffett, Heikki Kovalainen, Honda, Jerez, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Nico Hulkenberg, Pedro de la Rosa, Williams
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What others have said...
2 Comments
a.k.a. the Blue Orange Lion on 14 Dec 2007 at 10:34 pm #
Maybe Kovalainen will fit better at McLaren, he was not a typical Renault driver… In a way, I think 2002 line-up of Button and Trulli was a classic Renault year, even though the results weren’t so great, but Trulli was a crazy Italian with passion for wine and so on and JB was rocking, the sense of style was present… Hell!
I really like this PR phrase by Kova: “Once I had been informed by Renault about their driver plans my management and I began to explore a number of options in Formula 1. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was obviously an incredibly attractive opportunity and we began talking and here we are…I am pleased it all worked out.”
Once Flavio informed himself about his plans he decided what to do with his driver.
I have a conspiracy theory - Alonso signs with McLaren because he is on a mission by Renault to find out the way they operate at Woking; after a year when he deliberately creates tensions within his new team he terminates his contract and brings all the valuable info to Renault. Well, I can’t believe I came up with that!
Or maybe they just exchanged drivers???
Anyway, let’s see how Kova performs in 2008.
Christine on 15 Dec 2007 at 3:27 pm #
Too true. You have to love the PR speak though, it makes life slightly more interesting to have to decode it.