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Kovalainen joins McLaren

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Old Dec 14, 2007 | 12:15 PM
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Don't have a Mercedes right now...
Kovalainen joins McLaren

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/141220...s-mclaren.html

I think he is going to make a very good impression as good as Hamilton did if not better provited that they give them a good car after all the things they are going to freeze due to the spy scandal.
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Old Dec 14, 2007 | 01:33 PM
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Great pick up!
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Old Dec 14, 2007 | 05:17 PM
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Good for him!

It's always nice to see a few good drivers from the small country of Finland making their way to the top. In a few months we shall see Kimi and Heikki saying: "It's on!" and then
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Old Dec 15, 2007 | 12:18 AM
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Excellent
I can't wait to see Hamilton and Heikki pushing each other. The loser in this is Piquet Jr who will undoubtedly suffer being partnered with Alonso.
Way to go McLaren.

Last edited by Marshall_K; Dec 15, 2007 at 06:29 PM.
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Old Dec 15, 2007 | 02:16 AM
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Awesome. Let's see how Ron makes this work... you know the old saying at McLaren: To finish first, you first have to be finnish!
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Old Dec 15, 2007 | 08:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Marshall_K
Excellent
I can't wait to see Hamilton and Heikki pushing each other. The loser n this in Piquet Jr who will undoubtedly suffer being partnered with Alonso.
Way to go McLaren.
I wonder if Nelson starts beating Alonso if Flavio is going to give Alonso preferential treatment.
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Old Dec 15, 2007 | 10:37 AM
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i think that it is going to take heikki sometime to adapt himself to the car and the team. By that time Hamilton will already have established enough points to be mclaren's # 1 driver for the 08 season, so indirectly mclaren will have a clear # 1 status in their team. which is a bit ironic given all that BS that they said last season, which eventually left the without any titles.

on the other hand i wonder how competitive their car will be, with the current investigations, and with the areas which they will have to redo.

will it be like the 06 season again for Mclaren, I hope not, but it dosent look very promising to me.

Bottom line , i dont know if that move was as good as it sounds for heikki, on the other hand he didnt have a seat for 08, and this could mean that Ron would have definatley taken advantage of this fact and had him sign a contract with clauses that would make life for him worse than it was for Alonso.

i guess we will have to wait and see.
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Old Dec 15, 2007 | 03:41 PM
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Originally Posted by kchristos
I wonder if Nelson starts beating Alonso if Flavio is going to give Alonso preferential treatment.
Of course he will... I bet it is even part of the contract. You will see FA treated as a 2xWDC trying to take a 3rd and NP treated as an inexperienced rookie helping the 2xWDC take a 3rd.
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Old Dec 15, 2007 | 06:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Nola
Of course he will... I bet it is even part of the contract. You will see FA treated as a 2xWDC trying to take a 3rd and NP treated as an inexperienced rookie helping the 2xWDC take a 3rd.
You know its part of FA's contract to be the undisputed number 1 driver. which really sux for NP because he has top second guess his instincts and just drive fast enough to beat everyone else. Too bad that that pace would alsoi beat Alonso. Also this basically says to me that Renault are not going for the constructors championship but the Driver's championship
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Old Dec 16, 2007 | 09:26 AM
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Originally Posted by Nola
Of course he will... I bet it is even part of the contract. You will see FA treated as a 2xWDC trying to take a 3rd and NP treated as an inexperienced rookie helping the 2xWDC take a 3rd.
That's what I thought was the intent but Renault in their announcement didn't say anything about having Alonso the #1 driver and also NP's father made a statement some time ago that his son should start beating Alonso from the very first race. Of course that statement was made before the contracts were in place.
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Old Dec 16, 2007 | 09:33 AM
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Originally Posted by hatem
i think that it is going to take heikki sometime to adapt himself to the car and the team. By that time Hamilton will already have established enough points to be mclaren's # 1 driver for the 08 season, so indirectly mclaren will have a clear # 1 status in their team. which is a bit ironic given all that BS that they said last season, which eventually left the without any titles.

on the other hand i wonder how competitive their car will be, with the current investigations, and with the areas which they will have to redo.

will it be like the 06 season again for Mclaren, I hope not, but it dosent look very promising to me.

Bottom line , i dont know if that move was as good as it sounds for heikki, on the other hand he didnt have a seat for 08, and this could mean that Ron would have definatley taken advantage of this fact and had him sign a contract with clauses that would make life for him worse than it was for Alonso.

i guess we will have to wait and see.
You would hope that they learned their lesson Heikki said something similar in his interview:

http://www.mclaren.com/latestnews/pr...ticle=62#qanda
Lewis has been with the team for many years and consequently has a strong relationship with the team and management – are you worried that this will affect you settling into the team?
Not at all. It’s up to me to build relationships with the team and the people around me, and I know everybody is excited about me joining, so I don’t think that will be a problem at all. The one thing that has struck me so far is just how professional and dedicated the team is, and I know they will work so hard to give me the best opportunity. Also after the 2007 season I don’t think there can be any doubt that the team is totally committed to equality amongst its drivers and I like that.
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Old Dec 18, 2007 | 02:10 PM
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Originally Posted by mike_fin
Good for him!

It's always nice to see a few good drivers from the small country of Finland making their way to the top. In a few months we shall see Kimi and Heikki saying: "It's on!" and then

Finland makes the best drivers.
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Old Dec 18, 2007 | 02:58 PM
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Originally Posted by kchristos
You would hope that they learned their lesson Heikki said something similar in his interview:

http://www.mclaren.com/latestnews/pr...ticle=62#qanda
Lewis has been with the team for many years and consequently has a strong relationship with the team and management – are you worried that this will affect you settling into the team?
Not at all. It’s up to me to build relationships with the team and the people around me, and I know everybody is excited about me joining, so I don’t think that will be a problem at all. The one thing that has struck me so far is just how professional and dedicated the team is, and I know they will work so hard to give me the best opportunity. Also after the 2007 season I don’t think there can be any doubt that the team is totally committed to equality amongst its drivers and I like that.
Thanks for that interview, very interesting.........
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Old Dec 19, 2007 | 11:00 AM
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Originally Posted by hatem
i think that it is going to take heikki sometime to adapt himself to the car and the team. By that time Hamilton will already have established enough points to be mclaren's # 1 driver for the 08 season, so indirectly mclaren will have a clear # 1 status in their team. which is a bit ironic given all that BS that they said last season, which eventually left the without any titles.
That's what you would have thought about McLaren in 2007 - FA would make himself the undisputed #1 within the team. Look how that turned out


Originally Posted by Nola
you know the old saying at McLaren: To finish first, you first have to be finnish!
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