What happened to Heikki?
As Lewis Hamilton stepped up to expectations in Melbourne, what happened to the other superstar debutant, Heikki Kovalainen? The Renault driver, groomed for success in a similar way to Fernando Alonso, was ragged in his first Grand Prix. Adam Cooper analyses the reasons
The contrast between the demeanour of the McLaren and Renault bosses after the Australian GP was quite something. As you can imagine, Ron Dennis was as happy as a kid with a new toy after his boys finished second and third, and even the worryingly fast pace of Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari failed to dampen his enthusiasm. Flavio Briatore, in contrast, looked far from happy.
Flav has never been a touchy-feely kind of guy as far as keeping his drivers happy is concerned, but his attack on Heikki Kovalainen was pretty strong stuff, even by his standards. I didn't hear his comments personally, and much of what we've read has been translated from Italian, but I doubt if it has been embellished too much. His forthright views certainly couldn't have done much to make the Finn feel very comfortable at a time when he needed some support.
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