McLaren downplays Kovalainen’s mistake

Ron Dennis, the director of McLaren F1, stated that he does not want to criticize his driver Heikki Kovalainen for his small mistake during the last lap of the Australian Grand Prix.

He was aiming for a podium finish, but the intervention of the safety car combined with a small lapse in attention ejected him from the top three positions.

On the penultimate lap, he brilliantly managed to overtake Fernando Alonso, but just a few hundred meters from the finish, the Finn accidentally activated his pit lane speed limiter while cleaning his visor.

This mistake allowed Alonso to get back in front, but as the race was ending, Kovalainen ultimately remained in 5th place.

But despite what happened, Dennis believes that his driver should not blame himself and should be thrilled with his first performance for the team.

« I explained to him that he should not punish himself; apart from this small incident, he had a faultless race, » said Dennis.

« Okay, he hit his speed limiter, but I’ve seen many other drivers do it and I’m sure he’ll do it again. »

« He did a fantastic job this weekend and did everything we asked him to do. And without the safety car, he would have finished in second place. »

He must focus on the positive aspects and think about Malaysia now. There is absolutely no reason he can’t do better than a 5th place. From race to race, he will improve just like Lewis did last year, he concluded.