Jesus this guy is slow. I can't think of a better way to put it, he's just slow.

Im a mad McLaren fan and i never shit talk the drivers that drive for the team, but what the hell is wrong with him? He was actually PAINFUL to watch today, sure he got 2nd, but with his car, and the speed Hamilton displayed, he should have beaten Vettel by 20+ seconds, he was just rediculous. And i dont believe it was brake and tyre temp problems, i think he was just slow. Ive always thought he is too careful he doesnt get his balls out, and i stil stick by that, but maybe he cant set up the car properly or something. At this rate he doesnt have any choice but to be number 2 to hamilton he gets spanked every weekend.

There's no chance now.
Maybe in 2009.

It's clear that Kova's race pace just isn't good enough right now, allthough he is very decent in qualifying and his eventual results aren't too bad (probably because qual is so important in todays F1).

But he needs to improve in the races, or next year is his last with McLaren.

And how can Kovalainen's race pace come into question when he's handicapped before he even gets to the race (usually forced to go heavier which means forced to fight the pack to get ahead)?

Granted Lewis is a good aggresive driver, with spectacular overtaking maneuvers and all that, but I guarantee you, and you can write me up on this, he is going got get himself involved in a NASTY accident some day. I guarantee it.

Kovalainen wasn't handicapped, he was second on the grid with about the same fuelload as Vettel. He was slower, which is disappointing for a McLaren. The Torro Rosso is no doubt far better now than most here give it credit for (it's now perhaps the 3rd best car in the field, depending on the day), but there is little doubt the McLaren is still better. He should at have at least made it difficult for Vettel, much like Hamilton made it difficult for Raikkonen in Spa.

I fail to see how kova was handicapped here or silverstone. Why can't you just accept he is not at the same level with hamilton? Infact if it had rained and lewis was not forced to make that extra pitstop, i bet he would have finished ahead of kova if not win the race.

what title chances?
He's under performing so bad that is painful to watch :\

IF, IF, IF, blah, blah.
This weekend Heikki schooled Lewis. Period. If you want to count IFs then apply them also for HK when he is with the "wrong" strategy.

Well. He is 27 points behind. 17 for the last two races and then it is only 10 points in two races. It is possible.

Huh?

I know he got thrashed by a Torro Rosso, but in the end he performed MILES better than LH...

People are praising Massa for outqualifying Raikkonen then keeping his starting position. But you are bashing Kovi for doing just the same...

Can we get this right. Kova qualified second because he was lucky to get the right tyres at the right time which was excellent on his thinking. Going into this race he had a torro-roso an inferior car by many points to beat and i think b4 the race he would have gone in thinking he could win. He failed miserably and you could see by his appearnce at the press conference he felt deflated. He made a racing blunder, infact that he couldn't get pace. Lewis on the other hande qualifies 15th with a tank full of fuel and blazes thru everyone to end second with a two stop strategy behind vettel and at that point being fuelled to the end if it had rained he would have finished at worst second. Rain doesnt come and is forced to pit for tyres and ends still 7th, eight places from where he qualified. I don't know what race you watched and iam not here to bash kova but if you ask anybody with a head on the shoulders, i know which driver got the best out of the car...and that wasn't kova.....actually it was vettel

I think mclaren made a big blunder with kova. He is really out of it in my opinion. They would be winning contructors by now if not for his snail pace.

Heikki has also had very bad luck with SC's and some tech failings so points gap is not all about speed.

huh, in q2 everyone is light and not tank full of fuel. Kovy was simply faster than Lewis in quali

Agreed about the points gap - as I wrote, the actual results aren't that bad, just as today 2nd isn't bad - but the speed in races has been lacking, at least for what is expected of a top driver (someone who aspires seriously to be the WDC).

To be fair, DC couldn't do much at Monza in 1999 either, and usually DC was fast enough for his seat (indeed, very fast in 2000 and 2001).

Heikki's title chances?

Maybe next year.

Not "simply" though. Hamilton and his crew made the monumental blunder of not driving, on the tyres everyone else was using, when the track was at its dryest. Fuel has nothing to do with it, but it wasn't "simply" either. A megablunder, was what it was.

Which is I guess the best thing Kova has going for him: he's solid, very rarely makes mistakes. And good speed in qual. Race pace needs to be improved.

To be champion in 2009, he will need to become a lot faster in the races.

For me Kova has been quite unimpressive this year, his performance being entirely underwhelming. Particularly given what Fred did with the mac last year despite fueding with Ron. I think the only reason he is 'popular with Mac is because he makes a good lap dog for their boy Lewis. I really was expecting a lot more..