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As far as teammates go, it doesn’t get much tougher than Lewis Hamilton. But he didn’t have it all his own way alongside Heikki Kovalainen at McLaren. There was one area where the Finn consistently held the upper hand.
“Most of the time, I beat him on the golf course,” Heikki says, grinning, during an exclusive interview with McLaren. “Unfortunately, he would beat me on the racetrack. I’d happily reverse those roles if I could – give him the golf and I’ll take his racing achievements. That would be a better deal for me.”
Heikki spent two memorable seasons alongside Lewis at McLaren between 2008 and 2009, fulfilling a boyhood dream. A lifelong fan, he’d been hooked from the moment he watched his fellow Finn Mika Häkkinen stun the paddock by outqualifying Ayrton Senna on his McLaren debut.
It’s why, when he was approached by McLaren about a seat for 2008, he did everything he could to make it happen – despite having already agreed to join Toyota.
“Flavio Briatore, [Heikki’s manager, and also the Renault Team Principal] told me that I would need to call Toyota’s boss John Howett and tell him myself,” he says. “We had agreed that I would join Toyota, but we hadn’t signed anything. I called John, and I said, ‘I’m really, really sorry, but there’s a seat available at McLaren, and I really want to go there.’ He understood completely, and told me that I should go for it.”
Coming off a promising second half of the season with Renault – he had steered a tricky car to seven points finishes, including a podium in Japan, across the final nine races – Heikki was surprisingly a free agent.
Nelson Piquet Jr. had been promoted in his place, alongside the returning Fernando Alonso. Although the Spaniard’s departure had opened up a seat at McLaren, Heikki wasn’t expecting a call, and instead, lined up a move to Toyota, who had just finished sixth.
But then his phone rang.