Lewis is the one who attacked the team after losing at monaco , and the one who disobeyed team policy and orders at hungary isnt he? No I dont think Im confusing them at all. I think you have been reading too many british tabloids.

Nick Heidfeld.

They need a number two with speed who doesn't crash or make stupid mistakes, like Kovalainen does.

God, change the record.

I dont think Heidfeld's fast enough frankly, certainly not in qualifying.

Thats perfect for Mclaren though.

I'm surprised how many Hamilton's fans main priority seems to be not to disturb the golden boy.

What happened to the spirit of competition?

Not sure which posts you mean, but I and probably most Hammy fans would be happy to see him up against Seb Goldilocks . Mac fans mainly don't want another destructive internal war a la 07 though, so fans of both Mac and Hammy probably erring on the side of caution .

Inner discordance is counterproductive.

That might have been true in 2008 when he couldn't get his head around the tyres.

This year he's outqualified Robert Kubica twice and has scored all of BMW's points.

I'm not rubbishing Robert, he's had terrible luck mechanically.

But Nick shouldn't be judged on last year alone. He's doing a good job.

I would like to see Kimi back at Mclaren and going against LH... but I dont think Kimi is really bothered and angry and on fire...

Heidfeld would be a perfect choice for Mclaren... is a good WCC driver, technically well, experienced, can still push... on the downside is extremely boring...

Rosberg doesn't look like the driver of 2 seasons ago.

Kubica would bring anger and fire... and an incredible motivation to prove he is faster than LH

So it is up to the team:
- if they want a complementary driver, WCC points collector, then Heidfeld
- if they want to create super competive atmosphere in the team then Kubica looks good

Why would any top driver want to go to Mclaren? They are a year behind the leaders in their development cycle without the ability to spend their way out of trouble thanks to Max's cost constraints. If they aren't winning by late Summer it may well be a long time before we see them on the top step again.

Who was the last driver to be dumped by McLaren because of poor performace on track?

I'd be guessing Coulthard at the end of 2004, as the team went for what they hoped to be the quicker Montoya.

Montoya wasn't dumped, he jumped so wasn't technically fired.

Before that we'd have to go back to Mark Blundell in 1995 who wasn't kept on.

Martin Brundle didn't get a second season after 1994. I think he would have but Marlboro forced the team to take Nigel Mansell(!).

Prior to that they got rid of Michael Andretti.

Before that the only Stefan Johansson was let go to make way for Senna.

My point is, McLaren don't get rid of drivers were often.

Because, since Ron Dennis took over in 1980. they've produced a race winning car every season except 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2006.

So if you go to McLaren you've a good chance of running near the front.

That's a good reason!

I think that Nico would be the best choice for McLaren for next year! He has sveral pros that could be attracting to Mercedes and the team's marketing managers. First, he has a German passport, and speaks fluent German, as well as three other languages, secondny he is fast enough to win races in the right car, but probably not fast enough to bother Lewis over a whole season, and has a good reputation in technical understanding. Those reasons will probably lead to a straight swap between Heikki and Nico for 2010. And the pressure will mount on Heikki, since that could be his last chance!

Put Alonso back or if not available Kubica. We need all the hot heads together. Kubica, hamilton and alonso do not take any prisoners....that is what i like true racing.....not Hamilton-slowanainen or Button-- Barrier-chello comedies.

Very well said.

I think Nico Rosberg would be an interesting choice for McLaren.

I'm not fan, as I think he's a tad over-rated and crashes too much.

What is interesting is that Keke, Nico's old man, didn't want his son to go to McLaren for last year.

Nico and Lewis, of course, were team mates in karting, so perhaps Keke knows something about their comparitive speed that makes him fear for the career of his boy should he get blown into the weeds...

Okay I'll remember that if I get offered Whitmarshs job.

Meanwhile I want to see exciting competition between teammates.

I'd like Heikki to get his act together, start scoring points and stay on for another year.

He needs to stop flinging it off the track.

The crash in Monaco wasn't great.

But that tank slapper on the first lap in Malaysia was just embarrassing.

He's (apparently) a very nice guy but I've got my doubts about Kovalainen's mental strengh.

A bad first season at Renault could be called an anomaly.

But add another two at McLaren and we have a trend.

Jacques Villeneuve I'll be back!!!!!

uhh... no thanks.

The fact McLaren have produced a dud this year will save Heikki's neck I reckon.

An under performing driver in an under performing car makes far fewer waves than an under performing driver in a rocketship.

Yay!! This argument again, brilliant.

But at Renault the "trendline" ;) pointed steeply upwards. Now down again since he joined McLaren.

I think what most people here ask for is near impossible: someone as fast as Hamilton minus precisley one tenth every time so as not to get in the way, with all the hunger and commitment of Hamilton but never applied against Hamilton, with the mental strength of a winner but never to finish in front of Hamilton....

If they ever find such a driver he should actually be payed more than Hamilton...

Interesting thread. I'm not sure Heikki's time is up just yet but if he were to go, I'd like to see someone who could push Lewis hard. My first choice would be Rosberg I think. He has flashes of genius and I think a consistent car and less grid-traffic would benefit him. I'm interested by the suggestion of Sutil. He's clearly no slouch but we honestly don't see much of him where he is so it's difficult to say how he might perform. But we do know they get on well and if he is fast as well that could be a great pairing. German too, so good for Merc.

It's funny, before Kovalainen entered F1 he was portrayed as not-your-typical-Finn.

Everything I read said he was an outgoing chatty joker, who smiled constantly etc etc.

These days he looks very down in the mouth indeed.

I think that point is the key here.

It is so hard to see how good Rosberg and, especially, Sutil are because their most often mired in the midfield minefield.

Sutil did have a bit of buzz about him for a while, but I got the impression Mike Gascoyne felt he made way too many mistakes.

A trait he shares with Rosberg I reckon.

mario moraes

Hasn't he got a broken back?

Not hard to make driving "mistakes" when you are trying to get a car to do things it can´t, simply to get a decent result. I wouldn´t crucify anyone for trying too hard in a bad car. It´s only really when a driver is sitting in a good car, and still making errors, that one can take him to task.

I actually think Lewis' opinion on the team mate he wants, will be listened to. Making him comfortable in the team is important (just not too comfortable or complacent). It's a fine balance.

no thats vitor meira

I can't really see it not being Rosberg.

Any driver with ambitions higher than a midfield participant and in his right mind should not settle for a partner of LH at McLaren. In another team maybe it'll be OK.

Kovalainen.

oh come on, rosberg is one of the most overrated drivers. he belongs to my mythomania tread not mclaren

I think Nick Heidfeld would make a good teamate to Hamilton. The problem is with Heikki Kovalainen is that he often fails to score points on his own accord, he lacks that aggressive edge that a driver needs to do well at Mclaren-Mercedes. I can think of a number of situations such as Singapore 08 and Hockenheim 08, where he just gets pushed around a bit. This year, we have seen more driver errors from him.

Heidfeld has the ability to stay calm in mad situations and bring the car home in the points, which is ultimately what Mclaren need to improve in the constructors standings. Something often goes wrong with Heikki's race, whether he gets pushed around, makes a mistake or has rotten luck. I don't believe that Heidfeld could lead a team, but is perfectly capable of scoring regular points. I mean I could have never imagined Heidfeld getting 4th in Bahrain, but unlike Heikki - he may have scored a point or two.

Of course, and Norbert Haug has often said how he would like a German driver behind the wheel of a Mclaren-Mercedes. Mercedes-Benz will be an influencing factor here.

Heidfeld was mad about McLaren-Mercedes when they picked Kimi - i think it was Kimi back then, or JPM? not sure... - instead of him. I don't know if that trauma is healed. Anyway, you're right, Heidfeld looks like a solid scorer - was classified in the last 34 GPs and finished 26 of them, breaking Schumacher's record ,)

I hope that tension has healed, because Heidfeld would be decent at Mclaren. Here is hoping.

Hopefully they'll remember that they have Gary Paffett under contract, it would make sense to use him rather than keep him milling about.

Good point, although Gary has not raced an open wheel car for quite a while. Where as Heidfeld would be more up to speed. Gary is excellent in DTM though.

Gary was excellent in open wheelers too, I'm sure he hasn't forgotten how to drive them

I suspect he hasn't, but Heidfeld does have current F1 experience in setting up the car. I am sure Gary would do a good job though.

LOL

Arguably, David Coulthard came close to fullfilling those requirements while he was paired with Mika Hakkinen (the no1). Granted, the difference was probably more like 2 tenths and occasionally more, and he did challenge Hakkinen on occasion, but generally he was a very good no2 to Hakkinen who could and often would challenge for the win if Hakkinen was not at the front (for whatever reason). During the odd off season for Mika, David could and did act as the defacto #1. No wonder he was kept on for so long, allthough drivers that were probably a bit faster on average were available at times. But DC was a stable #2 who usually could be counted on to keep Schumacher and co honest if Hakkinen wasn't in it, for some reason.

For now, Kovalainen at least was pushing hard at Monaco and he does not have a good car, with which Lewis also has trouble staying at the track sometimes (while trying to make it go fast anyway). We need some more races to see if he can get better again, especially when/if McLaren manages to improve the car/get a B-version.

If you want to replace him, I'd say Heidfeld and Webber indeed seem good, logical choices. If Massa or Raikkonen has to leave Ferrari and would be willing to race for McLaren, either would do as well. Raikkonen has the advantage that he isn't in the habit of fighting an off-track war with his teammate, so the chances of a major conflict within the team are limited while Raikkonen potentially could push Hamilton quite hard - especially if he regains his usual form he had at McLaren. Massa has proven he's fast, I'm not sure if he would gell with McLaren but as a driver he's good and pairings with Schumacher and Raikkonen produced no conflicts.

I suppose they could also give Paul Di Resta a chance. And if we're dreaming, I'm sure McLaren would like to have Button. Button/Hamilton would be a dream pairing. Button would obviously not want to come to an underachieving McLaren, though.

Considering McLaren is Team Lewis, they should hire a driver that's mature enough and that can take valuable points for the WCC. Guys that fit that profile are Heidfeld and Webber.

In my opinion, putting Kubica or Vettel in a McLaren along with Lewis would be catastrophic for the team, just like it was in 2007 with two top talents.

Mark Hughes wrote that McLaren went off Webber big time at the end of 2007 when he slagged off Lewis Hamilton.

And since RD took over they have been able to spend freely to get to the front of the grid - firstly with the might of Marlboro and latterly with the help of Mercedes.

If Max gets his way they won't have that ability in the future. There was a time when we would have claimed a Tyrrell seat was attractive and recite Ken's record. - and I'm a Mclaren supporter.