Kovalainen: « McLaren is preparing for 2010 »

The current struggles of McLaren for meaningless positions might suggest that the Woking-based team has made little progress, but Heikki Kovalainen is confident that the team won’t make the same mistakes with the 2010 car.

Although the early-season performances with the MP4-24 are below what McLaren had accustomed us to in recent years, Kovalainen is certain that the efforts made will pay off to ensure a rebound for the next season.

When asked if he believes the pace of car development is starting to slow down, Finnish driver Heikki answers, “No, I don’t think so. I think it’s easier, when you’re lacking pace, to see the results and the best position. We are catching up and have new components at every race now. I think about Istanbul where we had 11 new parts on the car, and at Silverstone, we have a major change to the floor, some modified elements on the front wings, and in the steering area. But it’s never more than half a second per lap that we find. There are always small gaps and it’s very difficult to close them.”

Hamilton’s teammate adds: “It is always important to keep pushing and trying with different concepts, particularly with aerodynamics – the floor, the wings, in order to understand and ensure that next year’s car philosophy is correct.”

Kovalainen is therefore keen to ensure that McLaren focuses on the 2010 car. He believes that the team must be ready to accept their mistake from this year: «”I think the team is doing a very systematic job of tackling the problem.”» added the Finn.

I spent a lot of time at the factory talking with the designers, Lewis [Hamilton] and I have always been there to discuss with the engineers, and we shared our thoughts and views on what we thought about the car’s development. I think it’s very important and that the team will really improve. We won’t be able to see results instantly, and in some cases, we might even take a step back as we realize that wasn’t the right way to go, but I think it’s more important to find good development for next year.

And although McLaren is not fighting for the top spots this year, Kovalainen assures that the attitude within the team remains unchanged.

« It’s by analyzing the problems, looking at the telemetry, viewing the data and saying to ourselves: ‘OK, this is what’s happening. What should we do now?’ »

The second driver of the Grays understands it well: focus on the year 2010. That is the order at McLaren to reclaim the top positions, or even the title…