Kovalainen should never have been with McLaren in 2008…

Heikki Kovalainen was only McLaren-Mercedes’ (third) choice to replace Fernando Alonso, who was leaving for Renault for the 2008 season, (according to some reports).

The German newspaper Bild claims that Nico Rosberg from Williams and Sebastian Vettel from Scuderia Toro Rosso had a better chance of being on McLaren’s driver lineup than Kovalainen. However, it was the latter who secured a contract with the British team because the other two drivers could not escape the solid contracts that tied them to their respective teams.

The newspaper claims that when McLaren realized that Williams was not interested in ‘selling’ Rosberg, it was Mercedes boss Norbert Haug who requested that 20-year-old Vettel be at the wheel of an MP4-23 alongside Lewis Hamilton this year.

Finally, Bild adds that even with a promise of a contract buyout in the eight-figure range, Red Bull, through Dietrich Mateschitz, whose company owns half of the Toro Rosso team, refused to release Vettel.

Referring to Kovalainen, the newspaper stated: « The Finn is only the third choice. »