Kovalainen: the MP4-24 already feels like home

Following two productive days at Jerez, McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen has revealed he feels comfortable in the MP4-24 and is confident he has already adapted well to driving whilst using the car's KERS device and adjustable front wing. Kovalainen covered over 150 laps of the Spanish circuit on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“It’s been a good start with the new car,” said the Finn. “We’ve been mainly working on the reliability side of things and we seem quite satisfied that everything seems to be working well. The car feels like an evolution of last year’s - the controls, the seating position and driver comfort are very similar.”

With the 2009 regulations allowing for the use of KERS and a driver-controlled moveable front wing, the drivers will have their work cut out over the course of a lap this season. However, Kovalainen is pleased with how quickly he has become accustomed to the additional technology.

“I don’t think it’s very difficult to adapt to these new things,” he explained. “It’s just a few more things to do in the cockpit - press the button a few times every lap. I felt I very quickly became used to it and it quickly becomes a routine.

“There are places where you want to press it and places where you want to back off some front wing: if you feel you need a change during a long run, you can adjust it yourself. I feel I’m already on top of that and controlling it pretty well. And KERS has been running pretty well - it’s been running at full-power without any errors so that’s quite encouraging.”

Indeed, so far the only snag for Kovalainen has been rear tyre wear. But the Finn is certain he’ll be able to fine-tune his style of driving over the coming weeks to solve the issue before the season-opener at Melbourne's Albert Park.

“Obviously, lower grip and with the tyres, you have to take care and really look after them - especially here at Jerez, which is always a killer on the rear tyres,” he added. “So we need to look after them and I think I need to work on my driving style a little bit, to be more cautious in various places.

“But I have all the confidence in the team that they will be able to produce another competitive car. My feeling at the moment is that I have a better feeling this year than I did last year at the same time.”

Kovalainen is scheduled to return to the McLaren cockpit at the start of March, when testing continues at Jerez.

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Do you think Heikki is going to stay at McLaren? Maybe, depending on if Nico Rosberg is signing a contract, but there was rumours of Heikki coming to an Agreement for next year.

Before thinking about Heikki we should think about what McLaren will do next year... if they go on with Formula1 maybe Heikki will stay with them.

well now that we know the next couple years are hopefully stable ground for f1.... im wondering about mclarens future drivers. theres been a bit of shift in their staff recently, i wonder if we are going to see changes in their driver lineup in the next couple of seasons?

lewis is still the golden boy of mclaren even without ron dennis, he won them a drivers title and he is loyal to the end so its clear he'll be there for some time. id be surprised if he left, and no i didnt believe for a second his words about leaving mclaren earlier this season:lol: just a tantrum?

im not so sure about heikki though. he is happy in the team and performed well in 08 despite some bad luck. clearly this year the car is about as good on track as a super aguri with greased tyres so it doesnt reflect heikki and lewis' true ability. but...

with other young drivers like rosberg, glock and obviously vettel doing well for themselves, id be worried about holding on to my seat. i dont know if williams will be able to raise their game as much as they say they are aiming for, but i do know that nico has criticised the car more than once and isnt 100% happy about the team not being able to give him a truly competitive car. i wouldnt be surprised if he announced that he was ending his contract with williams and looking to settle in at one of the "big teams".

vettel also is clearly destined for greater things. although seeing his path of advancement so far its probably more likely that raikonnen is keeping his ferrari seat warm for him yes? no? who knows.

heikki will hopefully be with mclaren for many years, but it would be a shame to see him end up like fisichella, ending up in a struggling new team replaced by other young talent.


but this is just me rambling on and writing down what i hear inside my head when i sit and think on quiet evenings. its just a thought really.

Just feel sorry for Heikki. He's having such a sh!t season

i know!
its heartbreaking for me to see how most of the races end for heikki

I don't want him to stay in McLaren. He deserves better then being 2nd driver. Even Force India would be better.

He's still has got time to get some points in the bag and be above Lewis & he'll be 1st Driver if he stays above Lewis at the end of the season.

No he won't. Lewis is McLaren's for years now, and he will be No. 1 in the team as long as he will stay there. Heikki should leave McLaren.

heikki is clearly the no2 driver even though he is outperforming lewis on many occasions
and seeing as lewis was a world champion AND he because he's been at mclaren for years...i don't think they'll favour ANYONE over him