I was pleased to see that McLaren have already confirmed Heikki Kovalainen as a driver for 2009. Although Heikki is a long way behind Hamilton in the championship, he has had some pretty poor luck in the races and that could change at any time. Heikki may not be quite as quick as his team mate but this probably suits the team after their year of squabbles between Hamilton and Alonso - plus Heikki does not complain if he is not as fast as Lewis, he just tries harder.
Heikki Kovalainen
What I enjoy most about McLaren's announcement, however, is the fact that it makes Willi Weber look a bit silly. No doubt Willi had some devious plot in mind when he said that Rosberg would take Kovalainen's seat next year and that has been blown apart by the team's prompt response. Perhaps we all enjoy those moments when the "experts" are proved to be as fallible as anyone else.
In contrast to McLaren, Gerhard Berger has said that Toro Rosso will not confirm any drivers for 2009 until September. The Alonso factor comes into play as the team managers wait to see where he will jump. Rumors have him going to Ferrari (although that depends on Raikkonen retiring from F1), Honda, BMW and even Red Bull, but the likelihood is that Fernando will stay with Papa Briatore for another year. No one can be quite sure of the relative prospects for the teams with the changes in the regulations and Alonso might as well stay with Renault while the re-shuffle, if any, takes place.
Probably, there will be no change in the pecking order of the teams; money may not be the final arbiter of competitiveness but it does have considerable influence. Rich teams are not necessarily the fastest but the top teams will always have enough money for the development required to stay ahead.
The early announcement from McLaren bodes well for the future of the team, too. Whether by accident or design, they have two drivers that function well together and the team can concentrate on staying ahead in the race for development of the car, therefore. With this set to continue into 2009, they must be favorites to continue as the team to beat.
Their rivals, Ferrari, are also likely to continue with their existing drivers but that is not so happy a situation. Raikkonen seems to waver over the issue of retirement and cannot be content with his results so far this season, Massa has to perform well at every race to ensure that he remains in favor. With the team looking a bit chaotic at times, one has to wonder whether they will still be a top team next year.
Heikki's prospects look very bright, thanks to all this. He will have plenty of time to prove himself and his streak of bad luck cannot go on forever, can it? McLaren might find themselves in the situation that they actually like best, with a star driver bringing in the race wins and a dependable back-up totting up the constructors' points. It worked for a long time with Hakkinen and Coulthard and there is no reason why this should not be the beginning of a similar pairing.