McLaren 'in no rush' over driver decision

Martin Whitmarsh says Heikki Kovalainen will be given more time to earn himself a contract renewal for 2010, with the team to wait and see how the driver market develops before making a decision on its second seat.

Kovalainen was this week warned by his team boss that he needed to improve his performances over the final seven races of the season if he wants to stay at the team alongside Lewis Hamilton into a third consecutive season.

Speaking in the Valencia pit lane on Friday, Whitmarsh explained it was the Finn’s race performances in particular that required improvement – adding that the driver, while well-liked by the team, knew he needs to produce better results.

“I think Heikki is doing a great job as a team player,” Whitmarsh told the BBC.


“He’s very, very popular in the team and he has done some great qualifying.

“He knows and we know that he has got to a better job during the race; he’s got to be more consistent with his race pace on long runs. So he’s working hard to do that.

“We’re not talking to any other drivers at the moment. We want to see Heikki be successful in this team but at the same time we are obliged to have as competitive drivers as we can, so he knows what he’s got to do.

“He’ll be working hard and who knows? I think this weekend he can do a good job.”

Having confirmed at the previous round in Valencia that both McLaren and BMW were among his options for 2010, Williams’s Nico Rosberg has emerged as the lead contender to replace Kovalainen should McLaren decide to drop the Finn particularly after BMW decided to quit the sport at the end of the year.

Whitmarsh, however, claimed the team has not spoken to any driver about the second seat at the team as of yet – intriguingly adding that he believed that the driver market would soon be blown open in any case as he expected Fernando Alonso to move to Ferrari next season.

The Italian press was reporting as early as late last season that Alonso had agreed to move to Maranello in 2011, but Whitmarsh believes the Renault driver will soon be confirmed as a Ferrari driver for next year.

“At the moment we have not, and we are not in any conversations with drivers and we will see in the future,” he said.

“I think, in reality, there are some changes probably with Fernando at Ferrari.

“That frees up the driver market and every year there are a number of pivotal points during the season which determine what’s going to happen in the driver market.

“This year I think we all know that the Fernando/Ferrari move has a knock-on and that ripples through the other teams.

“Clearly the BMW withdrawal has also had an impact.

“I think we don't see a need at the moment to rush into it.

“We are concentrating on developing the car and making sure we are more competitive, which I hope we will be this weekend, and at the same time I think Heikki is pushing hard.”

Source: ITV