Weeks of speculation have ended with McLaren's announcement that Heikki Kovalainen will be in the second McLaren for the 2008 season. He was always the obvious choice if Alonso went to Renault, although Nico Rosberg seemed a strong possibility until he made it clear that he was staying at Williams.
Heikki Kovalainen
And it was Rosberg that beat Kovalainen to the GP2 championship in 2005, the Finn having led for most of the year. So is this Heikki's revenge, that he has won the race for one of the most coveted seats in F1? Far from being disgruntled at the manner in which he was eased out of Renault, Heikki could have good reason to feel that he is now better off, current form indicating that the McLaren should still be a better car than the Renault next year.
Doubts exist over the performance of the MP4/23 next season, however, it being possible that the moratorium on development in certain areas could blunt its edge. And Renault are very upbeat about their new design, with Alonso perhaps bringing the fabled "six tenths of a second" with him. It is ironic that a drop in McLaren performance, coupled with an improvement from Renault, could lead to more Alonso/Hamilton battles, this time in different cars. Shades of Senna and Prost? They too continued their squabble after Prost had left McLaren for Ferrari.
But how will Heikki fit into all this? Will he prove an able partner to Hamilton and can the team expect an end of inter-driver rivalries? I think that he will succeed on both points. He has the speed to keep up with Hamilton but does not seem the type to try muscling Hamilton off the road; far more likely is that he will bide his time and take opportunities when they occur.
So Heikki may well spend 2008 as a very good choice as the second driver for McLaren. That may seem at odds with his announcement that he preferred not to be regarded as a number two driver (itself probably a warning to Briatore that no way would he play second fiddle to Alonso), but it was also an indication that he understands the equal equipment policy of McLaren in a way that Fernando never did. The team comes first and drivers must be prepared to subjugate their egos when it matters for team results - and I think Heikki is happy with that.
If there are team mate problems next year, we all know where they will be: Renault's Alonso/Piquet pairing looks as explosive as they come. It is amusing to think that it was Piquet's father who benefited from Williams' similarly disastrous match of Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann in 1981.
To return to Kovalainen's prospects for the new year, however, it does look as though McLaren have got it right at last. Yes, I supported Gary Paffett's claim as long as there was the faintest hope of his getting the drive (and I still believe he would have done an excellent job) but, now the choice is made, there would be little point in being curmudgeonly about it.
And who can begrudge Heikki his good fortune anyway? He had a difficult start to last year but proved himself in the end - good luck to him.
Heikki Kovalainen
And it was Rosberg that beat Kovalainen to the GP2 championship in 2005, the Finn having led for most of the year. So is this Heikki's revenge, that he has won the race for one of the most coveted seats in F1? Far from being disgruntled at the manner in which he was eased out of Renault, Heikki could have good reason to feel that he is now better off, current form indicating that the McLaren should still be a better car than the Renault next year.
Doubts exist over the performance of the MP4/23 next season, however, it being possible that the moratorium on development in certain areas could blunt its edge. And Renault are very upbeat about their new design, with Alonso perhaps bringing the fabled "six tenths of a second" with him. It is ironic that a drop in McLaren performance, coupled with an improvement from Renault, could lead to more Alonso/Hamilton battles, this time in different cars. Shades of Senna and Prost? They too continued their squabble after Prost had left McLaren for Ferrari.
But how will Heikki fit into all this? Will he prove an able partner to Hamilton and can the team expect an end of inter-driver rivalries? I think that he will succeed on both points. He has the speed to keep up with Hamilton but does not seem the type to try muscling Hamilton off the road; far more likely is that he will bide his time and take opportunities when they occur.
So Heikki may well spend 2008 as a very good choice as the second driver for McLaren. That may seem at odds with his announcement that he preferred not to be regarded as a number two driver (itself probably a warning to Briatore that no way would he play second fiddle to Alonso), but it was also an indication that he understands the equal equipment policy of McLaren in a way that Fernando never did. The team comes first and drivers must be prepared to subjugate their egos when it matters for team results - and I think Heikki is happy with that.
If there are team mate problems next year, we all know where they will be: Renault's Alonso/Piquet pairing looks as explosive as they come. It is amusing to think that it was Piquet's father who benefited from Williams' similarly disastrous match of Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann in 1981.
To return to Kovalainen's prospects for the new year, however, it does look as though McLaren have got it right at last. Yes, I supported Gary Paffett's claim as long as there was the faintest hope of his getting the drive (and I still believe he would have done an excellent job) but, now the choice is made, there would be little point in being curmudgeonly about it.
And who can begrudge Heikki his good fortune anyway? He had a difficult start to last year but proved himself in the end - good luck to him.