Kovalainen Happy with McLaren-Mercedes

                                                                                         

McLaren’s team boss Ron Dennis stated that their new driver Heikki Kovalainen has become a new man since he is driving for Mercedes this year. Kovalainen recently joined McLaren after his 2007 rookie season with Renault during which he showed extraordinary progress and remarkable skills.

At the very first race of the 2008 Formula One calendar in Australia; Kovalainen achieved a great fifth place and at the Malaysian Grand Prix only a week ago he arrived in third position. Dennis is very confident with the new driver and mentioned that if he keeps on working the way he has been doing it he will be pushing his team mate Lewis Hamilton for the rest of the year.

"Heikki is a guy who was systematically taken apart last year and we have systematically put him back together again," Dennis told The Daily Telegraph. Give him three more races and he will be giving Lewis a real hard time. Lewis knows it and they are happy and joking about it. I hope as and when it becomes competitive between the drivers that the harmony keeps on."

Hamilton’s Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix brought him fame and a podium visit but it also brought him a hard time regarding his ex team mate and top driver Fernando Alonso due to the rumors of their ongoing rivalry both on track and off track which has been fired up by the media. In Kovalainen’s case Australia was his very own baptism and a good finish place for this one being his first time as part of McLaren.

Kovalainen performance was described by the Renault’s boss Flavio Briatore as “rubbish”, but in a car much more less competitive than the ones they had when they won the world titles in 2005 and 2006. But let’s not forget Kovalainen gave Renault the best results for last year’s competitions finishing in a fine second place with Hamilton in September of last year at the Japanese Grand Prix.

After Fernando Alonso transfer to the Renault team due to the dreadful relation with ex team mate Lewis Hamilton as well as the rest of the team; it only seemed the best choice as a replacement for the McLaren team was Kovalainen without a doubt.

When they started looking for a replacement, and after seeing the characteristics they were looking for in a driver like who had the best driving patterns and skills?, who was on the best team? That for sure applied to Kovalainen despite just being a rookie.

During his time with Renault Kovalainen lost his motivation and that was reflected in his driving but now he is gaining his confidence back and the McLaren team is part responsible for such improvements as the driver continues to try to be physically and mentally ready for each race.

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Claudia Beckford provides outstanding Formula One content as well as information in the sports betting industry.

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