Dennis praises Kovalainen's progress

Kovalainen has been the man to beat at Silverstone so far this weekend and Dennis believes the strong form on track has been the result of developments his driver has made off it.

"I think Heikki has been progressively getting better through the season," said Dennis. "When we first met in December we realised that it was a different team he was joining, a different approach.

"Following his fitness evaluation we knew that he needed to progress his training in a different way and it did take time to get to the same level as Lewis. We predicted halfway through the season, that's how long it would take, but he's had some great races already."

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug believes Kovalainen could now be in a position to kick-start his championship challenge after a run of bad luck cost him points earlier in the campaign.

"He was very good here from the first lap in testing and I'm really happy for him," explained Haug. "It's probably kind of a surprise for some, but not so much for us because we saw what he was capable of during testing and the practice sessions here.

"Heikki really deserves it. You all know what happened with the safety car in Melbourne - he could have had quite a few more points but he doesn't. He's in a strong position to start the season from here."

Although Lewis Hamilton was unable to match Kovalainen's form and only qualified fourth, Dennis thinks it is too early to judge the British drivers' form - and wrong to criticise him for the error that pitched him off the track on his first run.

"When a car's on the limit in gusty conditions it's very easy to get caught out," said Dennis. "He obviously had to be a little more cautious on the second run and that got him fourth on the grid.

"You have to wait until tomorrow and work out retrospectively race strategy and you'll have a much better idea of how things were and what we've done to try and win the race. Don't be judgemental."