A SEASON PLAGUED WITH BAD LUCK? Heikki Kovalainen's 2008 Season

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  • Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
  • While a McLaren driver won the drivers' championship (Just!) in 2008, the other driver was nowhere. And we remember it being that Hamilton was just so good and Heikki was just terrible, much like how Perez has been this year in an uncompetitive car.
    But issues with hydraulics, electrics, pneumatics, being biffed off the road and other things meant that Heikki was confined to just THREE podium finishes, one of those being a win at Hungary, while Hamilton won the championship.
    So was Heikki as bad as we all thought or was there more to it than that? I have a look, and as always, I invite you to have a discussion about it down in the comments.
    Enjoy! And remember to like and subscribe for more!
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 168

  • @AidanMillward
    @AidanMillward  Місяць тому +24

    R24, not 5. Hammond drove the R25 but the 24 did the lap.

    • @Kuromori-v9z
      @Kuromori-v9z Місяць тому

      HAMMOOOOOOONNNNND!!!!!!!!
      -Jeremy Clarkson, many times.

    • @purwantiallan5089
      @purwantiallan5089 Місяць тому

      ​@@Kuromori-v9zHanayo Koizumi when Clarkson screaming "Hammond" meanwhile:
      *DAREKA TASUKETEEEEEEE!!!!!"😂

    • @cahill22
      @cahill22 Місяць тому

      Nooooo Aidan, I wanted to smugly correct you in the comments and feel like a proper smarty pants!!!

  • @swidr5626
    @swidr5626 Місяць тому +70

    I wish Heikki would stay with Renault. He seemed like a very good midfield driver, and he was so good with crappy Lotus/Caterham

    • @AidanMillward
      @AidanMillward  Місяць тому +18

      @@swidr5626 he would have done a bit better if he hadn’t had so much happen to him in the space of half a season

    • @swidr5626
      @swidr5626 Місяць тому +16

      @@AidanMillward Yeah for sure. I just find it a huge shame that he was demoted to the back of the grid in 2010, when he could've done so much more and he proved it with a dog of a car, same with Glock honestly

    • @f1jones544
      @f1jones544 Місяць тому

      Then he never would have won a race

    • @purwantiallan5089
      @purwantiallan5089 Місяць тому

      ​@@AidanMillwardmerry christmas 2024 and happy early new year 2025, @AidanMillward! Wish you all the best year in 2025!😊

    • @purwantiallan5089
      @purwantiallan5089 Місяць тому

      ​@@f1jones544Kovalainen had he stayed with Renault should've won at least 4 races.

  • @stanny_polyglot
    @stanny_polyglot Місяць тому +19

    Thanks for this video. I had the same impression back in 2008, that Kovalainen lost points mostly due to bad luck. Contrary to Heidfeld who was extremely lucky. Sometimes missing Q3 and even Q2, he was always there in races with random factors. But: it's 2009 which decided Heikki's future. He've finally seen that he was not so good in races and in qualifyings, with the most notorious example in Nurburgring where he helped Webber to achieve his first victory after drive-through.

    • @purwantiallan5089
      @purwantiallan5089 Місяць тому

      Kovalainen in 2008 also quite rarely qualified past Q2.

    • @stanny_polyglot
      @stanny_polyglot Місяць тому +3

      @@purwantiallan5089 this is simply not true. He never qualified below 7th, his average qualifying position was 3.89.

  • @ZeroHedgehog1996
    @ZeroHedgehog1996 Місяць тому +27

    In Australia, there's also the fact after overtaking Alonso in the final lap after the final corner, Heikki celebrated and accidentally hit the pit limiter button which slowed him down and allowed Alonso to pass him for P4 just before the finish line. Prove that you should never celebrate too early, even in F1

    • @thomasconway95
      @thomasconway95 Місяць тому +9

      It wasn't on the final lap, you've misrepresented it completely

    • @tommykee12
      @tommykee12 Місяць тому +7

      Actually he was tearing off helmet visor and his hand came down and hit pit limiter button.

    • @Jejking
      @Jejking Місяць тому +1

      @@thomasconway95 Not completely, but Kovalainen couldn't attack Alonso after this moment.

    • @purwantiallan5089
      @purwantiallan5089 Місяць тому

      ​@@tommykee12why he hit the limiter button btw?

  • @ibex485
    @ibex485 Місяць тому +10

    I've always thought Heikki was a perfectly decent F1 driver. He was the best driver available at the time at short notice, and he did well enough in 2008 despite the pressure of being in a team with championship expectations and driving a car which was not designed with his driving style in mind. Not to mention all the fallout from 2007, which looked at the time like it had compromised McLaren's car development and left them lagging further behind Ferrari than in the previous year. Lewis often seemed to be overperforming the car a bit, making the fact Heikki got so close even more impressive.

  • @TheConfidentNoob
    @TheConfidentNoob Місяць тому +9

    Unfortunately for Kovalainen after his departure from Caterham in 2012, he was quickly forgotten about. I’m sure if he stayed in the sport longer and was in a top team, people would still be talking about him now, but he was just in a top team at the wrong time

  • @sh-spectrum409
    @sh-spectrum409 Місяць тому +29

    I was concerned about Heikki joining a championship challenging team in only his second F1 season. And in his first McLaren race in Melbourne when he accidentally hit the pit lane speed limiter on the main straight to allow Fernando back through after just overtaking him I then realised that the writing could be on the wall.

    • @McLarenMercedes-011
      @McLarenMercedes-011 Місяць тому +5

      That was one of the dumbest mistakes I’ve ever seen, hitting the pit lane speed limiter when you’re not even in the pit lane

    • @sandmaenchen
      @sandmaenchen Місяць тому +7

      The Australian GP one was understandable since he had some crap in his visor and he hit the speed limiter when he tried to tear a layer off. But yeah, he was not quick enough at that stage of his career and could have done with a couple of encouraging results to take some pressure off, like finishing ahead of Alonso in 4th in Australia

    • @Jejking
      @Jejking Місяць тому +4

      Come on now, Hamilton hit the brake magic in Baku. That lad didn't fare too poorly in his career so far, no?

  • @Syrjyys
    @Syrjyys Місяць тому +15

    As a Finn we don't expect anything pronounced correctly if it comes to our language. To compensate we invented rally finglish

  • @Kamjay27
    @Kamjay27 Місяць тому +24

    Honestly your pronounciation of "Heikki" is miles better than the one the Italian TV commentators had (reading the "ei" in Heikki like the "ei" in Steiner)

    • @ibex485
      @ibex485 Місяць тому +6

      Here in the UK his name was often pronounced on TV Hi-key (with a hard 'i'). Basically omitting the e instead of omitting the first i. Calling him Hekki (a natural way for a native English speaker to prounounce that word) is far better than going for some weird generically foreign pronunciation which seems equally far from the actual Finnish pronunciation.

    • @Spike-sk7ql
      @Spike-sk7ql Місяць тому

      @@Kamjay27 same in US. So that's the way I ended up saying his name for a long time.

  • @mindujiman
    @mindujiman Місяць тому +16

    Coulthard just said at 16:11 what I was thinking during all the video. That would explain why the 2nd driver at McLaren always got poor results or bad luck then if treated badly. Coulthard, Montoya, Alonso, and Heikki had bad experiences with McLaren "politics" at that time

    • @Spike-sk7ql
      @Spike-sk7ql Місяць тому +4

      You could even go back as far as Senna/Prost with that. Prost said 5hat McLaren was treating Senna better, Senna said that Prost was getting preferential treatment by the FIA. Hell, Michael Andretti surely didn't do himself any favors in the beginning, but his half a season in 93, I'm almost sure that Michael wasn't given the same effort as they gave Senna.

    • @mindujiman
      @mindujiman Місяць тому +2

      @Spike-sk7ql Sure it wasn't. It seems that's the way Ron Dennis ruled the team. There was clearly another atmosphere during the Martin Whitmars era.

    • @Spike-sk7ql
      @Spike-sk7ql Місяць тому +5

      @@mindujiman and I honestly do believe that Ron gave Lewis preferential treatment over Alonso from race 1. Being as Lewis was Ron's pet project, and was being put straight into a championship contending car in his rookie season,(something that I can't ever recall happening since I've started watching F1 in the early 80s) Ron probably wanted nothing more, than to have his golden boy put up a good show against a double world champion. Thing was, that Lewis is a generational talent, going up against another generational talent, who had just toppled the previous generational talent. I think even Ron didn't expect Lewis to be as good as he was, and "this kid put up a great fight against Fernando" plan turned into "this kid beat Fernando" plan before Monaco. Then Fernando went to Ron with the stepneygate stuff, and that pissed Ron off, instead of giving equal treatment, or No. 1 status, like I'm sure he believed he'd be getting at McLaren, he got screwed harder. That backfired in Alonso's face, didn't it? Fernando's villian Streak is something for a video too. Ok sorry about the long story, with very questionable punctuation, and no structure. If you've read this far, congratulations. You've wasted about 2 mins of your life reading some sort of F1 fantasy conspiracy theory. Idk though..... that could be exactly how it went down in 07. Who knows?

    • @mindujiman
      @mindujiman Місяць тому +2

      @@Spike-sk7ql Nevermind. I agree with you. 2007 will be always obscure and fascinating

    • @purwantiallan5089
      @purwantiallan5089 Місяць тому

      ​@@mindujimansame goes to 2005 and 2006.

  • @dpause10
    @dpause10 Місяць тому +13

    Heikki Kovalainen - I remember that 2004 race of champions, where he absolutely mopped the floor with F1 champ Michael Schumacher and rally legend Sebastien Loeb. In retrospect that weekend, which made everyone wonder why in the world he wasn't in a F1 car already, was probably the worst thing that happened to Kovalainen. Expectations for this kid skyrocketed overnight...and of course, he never lived up to those lofty expectations: not at Renault, where he was supposed to fill Alonso's shoes and then at McLaren, where he simply couldn't match Hamilton.
    In US pro sports lingo, you'd probably call him one of the biggest draft busts ever! I am actually glad he won that single race in Hungary. If he wasn't a grand prix winner, his career would indeed look quite shambolic.

  • @davesouthword1298
    @davesouthword1298 Місяць тому +4

    Don’t have the stats, but my hazy memory of McLaren was that Heikki was usually fuelled much heavier, but never got the advantage of running longer with his tyre issues. Also being heavier and lower down he was more liable to get into scrapes.

    • @thomasconway95
      @thomasconway95 Місяць тому +1

      He was often fuelled heavier and close to Hamilton over one lap, fuel-adjusted, but his race pace just wasn't good enough.
      The best example is Monza 2009. He qualified 4th, fuel-adjusted on pole, the best of the one-stopping cars, ahead of eventual winner Barrichello, but come race day he was nowhere. Before Hamilton crashed on the final lap, he was 33 seconds ahead, despite running the theoretically slower two-stopper.

  • @TommiNummelin
    @TommiNummelin Місяць тому +2

    Finally, redemption for Heikki! Hope he sees this video, dude needs some cheering up after his open heart surgery.

  • @RANDOMZBOSSMAN1
    @RANDOMZBOSSMAN1 Місяць тому +4

    The thing with Heikki was that a lot of noise was made with Lewis joining a top team in 2007 but barely the same noise was made behind Heikki (before the season started when Renault lack of pace showed itself) *literally replacing the driver who won the last 2 WDC at Renault*
    A solid driver if unspectacular at McLaren

  • @_GuestFive
    @_GuestFive Місяць тому +1

    I always like Heikki. Solid driver. Didn’t know if he was ever good enough to be in a proper championship winning team but he was absolutely better than what he got with Lotus/Caterham. That move killed his F1 career. A bit like Bottas to Sauber in a way…

  • @Exponaut_R-01
    @Exponaut_R-01 Місяць тому +3

    Every time we look at the mid-late 2000s I just realize in hindsight I had too many things to root for lol

  • @setiapratamadupi
    @setiapratamadupi Місяць тому +1

    I still remembered prior to 2007 season, a kids magazine in my country did an analysis of who will be the next Michael Schumacher. Heikki was one of them, and actually was ranked better than Lewis in it.

    • @AidanMillward
      @AidanMillward  Місяць тому +2

      @@setiapratamadupi Finnish bias.

    • @setiapratamadupi
      @setiapratamadupi Місяць тому +1

      @AidanMillward hahaha gotta admit. My place supported Kimi more than Fernando back then, especially since he was the one replacing Michael at Ferrari.

  • @anemicroyalty8764
    @anemicroyalty8764 Місяць тому +2

    Kovalainen was 6-8 against Hamilton in 2008, of the best H2H’s a driver had against him.
    And that’s all I’ll ever mention about 2008, it was like losing my grandmother.

  • @minibus9
    @minibus9 Місяць тому +1

    Great video, i agree that he was unlucky, particuarly considering his 2007 season at Renault which was pretty damn good as well.

  • @sujjo
    @sujjo Місяць тому +1

    Aah the Nissan World series brings a lot of nostalgia for us Indian Motorsport fans. The 2004 season was telecasted on National TV here because Narain Karthikeyan was taking part in it. I believe he finished 6th. He along with Tiago Montiero who was runner up to Heikki went on to make their F1 debuts in Jordan in 2005. Good times.

  • @CameronGreenwoodCramp
    @CameronGreenwoodCramp Місяць тому +3

    2008 was a thrilling season for F1. Not as thrilling as 1976, 1986, 1997, 1991, and 1989. But it was still thrilling anyway. :)

  • @y_fam_goeglyd
    @y_fam_goeglyd Місяць тому +3

    He certainly wasn't a bad driver. He was never going to be a champion (neither is the vast majority of the grid throughout history), but he was also bloody unlucky! Carrying on with the dodgy brakes after having had that crash, that took balls.

  • @theF1oracle
    @theF1oracle Місяць тому +1

    Very looking forward to the jonny & martin brundle videos.
    Very few new fans know them from their racing days of the 80's & 90's, it's amazing they survived them to be slagged off by 2024 twitter fans 😂

    • @f1jones544
      @f1jones544 Місяць тому

      The same people who will fawn over Bellof finishing third at Monaco 84 because it's popular (for some reason), know nothing about Brundle really "almost" winning in Detroit over an actual race distance. I they have heard of that, the same have turned around and said, "Yeah, but Brundle's car was illegal." 😂

  • @alexpeak16
    @alexpeak16 Місяць тому +2

    I think the straight swap with Alonso happened because Dennis needed a calmer temperament to keep Hamilton happy. Yes, Heikki did have a lot of horrid luck in the first half but the final third of the season was particularly poor for him. Think Lewis outqualified him by an average of 3/4 tenths and I can think of at least seven races where Kovalainen didn't get the best possible result considering how good the MP4-23 was.

    • @ibex485
      @ibex485 Місяць тому +2

      Keeping Hamilton happy was the least of the many reasons why Alonso couldn't stay at McLaren, if indeed it was a reason at all. Relations between the two drivers were arguably better than between Prost & Senna - they were not smashing into each other on track.
      At Hungary Alonso threatened Ron Dennis with sending additional evidence to the FIA, which had already concluded its original investigation & hearing into the Stepney-Coughlan affair. Evidence which would show the use of the Ferrari material went far deeper than either the FIA or Ron Dennis knew (and had testifed to the hearing about). Ron was so sure this was an empty threat, that nothing more had been withheld from him or the FIA, that he informed the FIA himself.
      Of course it turned out Alonso did have a whole load of incriminating evidence which had been concealed from Ron and that found its way to the FIA.
      Nobody, not even Alonso, can expect to keep their job after threatening their boss like that, then land them with a $100m fine ('$10m for the offence, $90m because I don't like you', as Mosley reportedly said to Ron) and cost them a constructors championship they won and a drivers championship they had in the bag. No matter what their relationship with their team mate is.

    • @Don-Royall
      @Don-Royall Місяць тому +2

      what, Alonso was kicked out because of his mouth, Renault even did something worse than McLaren with that document, but only McLaren was punished due to Max Mosley emotions towards Dennis.

    • @alexpeak16
      @alexpeak16 Місяць тому +1

      @@ibex485 I remember Mosley said the $90m was for Ron being a twat.
      From what I recall, Fernando did retract the threat but it was too late, Ron already gave that evidence to the FIA.

  • @paulwortman483
    @paulwortman483 Місяць тому +1

    Isn't that how they pronounce it that way back in the day??? Hecky...

  • @caphowdy666
    @caphowdy666 Місяць тому +4

    I think I have the same opinion on a lot of these guys. Heikki, Fisi, HHF and Perez, none of these guys are bad drivers but are victims of bad luck and being in the right team at the wrong time. Some drivers like Alonso can be put in any car and extract the best out of it, even if it does not suit their driving style (understeer vs oversteer etc). Other drivers like the four I mentioned will perform brilliantly in a car that suits their style, but struggle in cars that don't. The one skill they lack over the true greats is the ability to adapt. A team is always going to make sure their car is suited to the #1 not the #2, but if they can produce a car that both drivers like, well that's just a bonus.
    When you consider the performances all those guys put in in lesser cars, you know there is certainly talent there. And as you pointed out with Frentzen, some drivers need to be coddled, which is certainly something that neither Ron Dennis or Frank Williams were known for.

    • @mike04574
      @mike04574 Місяць тому

      They’re just not on the same level that’s all. Good and top midfield drivers but not good enough to be near the top of the field

  • @freedfg6694
    @freedfg6694 Місяць тому +1

    The story of "the second driver" always comes down to one of three. Good driver with terrible luck. I.e kovalainen or Coulthard. Good drivers who cant possibly compete with their superstar teammate. Webber, Fiscichella, Bottas, Barichello etc. and drivers who just...exist. i.e Perez, Irvine, Verstappen

  • @timothysperisen
    @timothysperisen Місяць тому +1

    Of course I was only fed the outside information as a fan/observer, but I did notice one thing that could have contributed: the attitude. Whenever Heikki had to retire, he stated "game over", be it at McLaren or at Lotus/Caterham. And in a sport where professionalism and devotion has to be felt in every corner, maybe this wording played out against him because it made him - in 90s analogy - look more like a Berger/Alesi than a Senna or Schumacher. You would never hear the GOATs say "game over" because it shows the wrong attitude- but who knows, maybe I was just unlucky in being fed the unfavourable radios, but I have rarely ever heard anyone else use that analogy, and that tells me that you make your own luck with your attitude. If Heikki had been a bit more passionate, he might have turned things around. But as a mechanic, who do you do the extra control for: the one who sees it as a game or the one who you know gives it his all every time?

  • @chlcrk
    @chlcrk Місяць тому +2

    I don't think the perception was helped by Heikki struggling badly with the 2009 McLaren and finishing a full 7 places off his team-mate

  • @purwantiallan5089
    @purwantiallan5089 Місяць тому

    Kovalainen moving to McLaren in 2008 turned out to be a massive backfire...

  • @wabba67
    @wabba67 Місяць тому

    If there was talk about Mercedes "sabotaging" Hamilton this year, Heikki's season at McLaren in 2008 is another fine example of something slightly similar. Remember, this was the time of qualifying with the race fuel, and (unless I'm horribly misremembering) the only time he got a lighter car than Hamilton was Silverstone, and he was on pole. Race day was another matter entirely, but just a showcase that this season was definitely not entirely his fault.

  • @johnedwards3198
    @johnedwards3198 Місяць тому +6

    As a fellow Walsall-ite if something is broke its bost not brek ay it

    • @AidanMillward
      @AidanMillward  Місяць тому +2

      @@johnedwards3198 but how do you slow a car down? You…

    • @johnedwards3198
      @johnedwards3198 Місяць тому +1

      @AidanMillward braayyyyke like I'm drunk or having a stroke. Absolutely agree with everything else like tekking the lead and we seem like Resi Evil 4 villagers 😂 We am gooing up!!!

    • @BenBebbington
      @BenBebbington Місяць тому

      ​@@AidanMillwardpull on the osses reins?

  • @adamwilliams192
    @adamwilliams192 Місяць тому

    “Technically correct, the best kind of correct”
    The dude does Futurama quotes as well….legend 😂
    Edit: And now the top tire TG facts? Much like Ace Rimmer, what a guy.

  • @brokentuskclan1795
    @brokentuskclan1795 Місяць тому +2

    I sometimes wonder what JPM would achieved if he had stayed on at Mclaren... Hamilton held back for a year. Would the '07 title been stripped? JPM won it in '08? Alonso V JPM? Agro or Besties?

  • @johns950
    @johns950 Місяць тому +3

    He won a race that year, so there was a silver lainen.

  • @icewhitegames6875
    @icewhitegames6875 Місяць тому

    Merry Christmas Aidan!

  • @jukkaaho7962
    @jukkaaho7962 Місяць тому +5

    Cruel sport F1. But clearly Heikki had the speed, not the luck as you said

  • @mikesummers-smith4091
    @mikesummers-smith4091 Місяць тому

    I remember a guard on the Euston train ca. 1990 who pronounced "Wolverhampton" as one syllable (think: Wlvrhmpton). I used to listen out for him.

  • @Nexus1x
    @Nexus1x Місяць тому

    Always thought Heikki in 2008 was one of the most unluckiest seasons from a driver in a top car

  • @JerryCrow
    @JerryCrow Місяць тому +15

    Nah hes admitted as a pundit, he wasn't fast enough and rode the "wanna win hire a finn" hype after häkkinen and räikkönen and was iguess managed by the same guys as its such a cartel because there is no competition as theres like 1 guy per decade fast enough usually...

  • @ebrahimebs
    @ebrahimebs Місяць тому

    Love the content, i think it would be better if u showed more cut scenes instead of yourself (my opinion)

  • @Ryzard
    @Ryzard 24 дні тому

    These types of seasons are why I can never fully respect people that just pull out stat sheets to call one driver good or another bad, because... The stopwatch doesn't lie, no, but it ALSO doesn't go out of it's way to tell the whole story either.

  • @jacobhungerford4206
    @jacobhungerford4206 Місяць тому

    A video on zonter would be interesting

  • @F-Man
    @F-Man Місяць тому +3

    Kovalainen won more F1 races in 2008 than Max Verstappen.
    ⭐️🌈

    • @chlcrk
      @chlcrk Місяць тому

      And Jenson Button too

    • @F-Man
      @F-Man Місяць тому

      @@chlcrkand Fangio!

  • @Ohtechnik
    @Ohtechnik Місяць тому +1

    Watching this makes me worried for Liam

  • @jamestalbot4900
    @jamestalbot4900 Місяць тому

    We still following BZ's uploads then? Love the classic F1, and feel old that 2008 is considered classic.

    • @AidanMillward
      @AidanMillward  Місяць тому

      Who's BZ?

    • @jamestalbot4900
      @jamestalbot4900 Місяць тому

      @ Big Zeddie. He’s been working through previous F1 seasons with the old ITV highlights

    • @AidanMillward
      @AidanMillward  Місяць тому +1

      @@jamestalbot4900 I watched some of the 97 stuff but that’s about it.

    • @jamestalbot4900
      @jamestalbot4900 Місяць тому

      @ But anyway, the point that I meant to make and completely lost track of in my stream of consciousness ramble is, yes, having watched the 08 highlights, the awful luck Heikki had really shows

  • @BarbaricAvatar
    @BarbaricAvatar Місяць тому +2

    For Heikki I'd draw a parallel with Nico Hulkenberg: No doubting his speed and potential but something always seemed to go wrong for him to prevent him getting the results he could have delivered. There was also the odd unforced error which didn't help Heikki's cause.
    Still, he was part of a rich period for fans of Finn's; there being two of them with the potential to win races.

    • @mark4lev
      @mark4lev Місяць тому

      Hulks had long enough to show us his ability and it still hasn’t happened

    • @BarbaricAvatar
      @BarbaricAvatar Місяць тому

      @@mark4lev I can only assume you're medically blind in that case then.

    • @mark4lev
      @mark4lev Місяць тому

      @ 227 starts without a win let alone a podium. How long do we have to wait?

    • @BarbaricAvatar
      @BarbaricAvatar Місяць тому

      @@mark4lev Any clueless mug can look at results and base their opinions off that. Where a driver finishes doesn't tell the story of their race.

  • @alexlazebat839
    @alexlazebat839 Місяць тому

    i find it weird you did this as i was having this conversation the other day on big zeddie year 2008

  • @markko17
    @markko17 Місяць тому

    Don't worry too much about the name pronunciation.. Finnish hockey player Teemu Selanne, (whose wife's name is Sirpa) has four children, Eemil, Veera, Leevi, and Eetu. Besides Teemu's obvious fixation with the letter "e", Teemu once said, "Finns love coming up with names no one else can pronounce."

  • @MrSaywutnow
    @MrSaywutnow Місяць тому +3

    1:55 Oh, heck.

  • @ibex485
    @ibex485 Місяць тому +1

    Would Heikki have remained at McLaren for 2010, if the Brawn miracle hadn't happened?
    I think he could have, especially with Ron Dennis being forced to step down after Australia '09 and Martin Whitmarsh taking over as team principal.
    Before 2009 Button was considered a bit washed up, someone who once showed huge potential but which never happened - partly due to reasons of his own making, partly just wasted in a bad team. McLaren might have gone after Kubica, but historically they had the chance and didn't. BMW announced their withdrawl in July(?) putting Kubica on the market in plenty of time for McLaren to get him if they were interested. Whitmarsh didn't speak to Button until after Brazil, until he was contacted by Button's management he thought there was no chance Button would want to leave Brawn, with Mercedes buying the team & securing their future.
    Not securing (or even seemingly looking for) a replacement driver until so late in 2009 suggests that Whitmarsh happy to keep Heikki for 2010.
    Would he have been any good? Personally I think he could have been Massa/Bottas level. Able to push a top tier team mate and beat them occasionally. Not able to consistently enough to beat them over the whole year, but might challenge for a drivers title if given a car advantage and full team support.

  • @JohnSmithShields
    @JohnSmithShields Місяць тому +4

    It could be worse, you could have always pronounced his name like Nike instead.

  • @mattyboomtown3435
    @mattyboomtown3435 Місяць тому +1

    Can you see Walsalls ground from the m6?

    • @AidanMillward
      @AidanMillward  Місяць тому

      @@mattyboomtown3435 yeah. Has the biggest privately owned LED ad board in Europe on site.

    • @BenBebbington
      @BenBebbington Місяць тому

      "...you'll never sing that"

    • @AidanMillward
      @AidanMillward  Місяць тому

      @ I sang that in StuntPegg’s voice 🤣

  • @benketteridge9150
    @benketteridge9150 Місяць тому +2

    At the time, he just seemed to be a decent peddler, but never quite up to snuff - a bit of a Bottas tbh. Interesting to hear the bigger picture.

    • @JohnSmithShields
      @JohnSmithShields Місяць тому +3

      The perfect number 2, competitive but not a threat.
      The problems come when another team effectively has two number 1's.

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    He only scored 2 Podiums 3rd in Malaysia, 2nd in Italy Monza.

  • @azapro911
    @azapro911 Місяць тому

    Even Hamilton's 'worst' team mate was quicker than the points standings suggest. He was genuinely a bit of a Bottas, strong qualifier but the results never matched it for various reasons.

  • @kevinprior3549
    @kevinprior3549 Місяць тому

    I think you forgot that Kovalainen hit the speed limiter after passing Alonso in Australia. Another sign that Kovalainen wasn't great.

  • @Niponnai
    @Niponnai Місяць тому

    Heikki absolutely dominates in Japan

  • @Tacko14
    @Tacko14 Місяць тому +1

    Isn't it annoying how unreliable the cars used to be? It's part of the sport, sure, but whole drivers' careers have gone to... bits through unreliable cars. That's at least one bit where Simon Whistler is right when he says the past is the worst.
    I'd quite like a vid in full accent. Maybe with subtitles. British accents are so diverse and wonderful.
    I've been accused, by an Englishman, of North London. I'm Dutch but I used to watch Red Dwarf a lot. Imagine that, just one city having multiple accents. You gotta love it.
    I once made the mistake of watching Das Boot with German subtitles, thought I was up for the job. Well... they know their slang. Speech and subtitles didn't correspond, let's leave it at that. And with Das Leben der Anderen they had to rewrite the script because of differences between West and East German speech. It's a wonderful, intricate world of language that intrigues me.

  • @KR1736
    @KR1736 Місяць тому

    IMO the 2006-2008 cars are the best looking

  • @timzy4395
    @timzy4395 Місяць тому

    He was definitely unlucky throughout 2008. He could’ve won Japan and Italy and maybe Monaco too. He definitely has pace expect for 2009 where I think he just lost confidence. Wish he could’ve had a longer career in F1 but hey he’s a successful rally and Super GT Champion and race winner which is what a lot of F1 drivers could wish for.

  • @jkim6200
    @jkim6200 26 днів тому

    Have you done or thought about doing a profile On Andrea ee Cesaris?

  • @bumblebity2902
    @bumblebity2902 Місяць тому

    If you made video about Heikki, so maybe you'll make video about Perez before Perez aka Hector Rebaque last Mexican driver before Perez who was sacked by Bernie?

  • @89natobus
    @89natobus Місяць тому +1

    R.o.c. 04.
    He was good enough.

  • @julienaltena
    @julienaltena Місяць тому

    Hekki is a good dude

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    Alonso & Heidfeld both finished ahead of him in the drivers standings.

  • @tomeddie14
    @tomeddie14 Місяць тому

    How about the 2009 season? 👀

  • @raketman101
    @raketman101 Місяць тому

    I love it Hekki

  • @alessandroledda6480
    @alessandroledda6480 Місяць тому +1

    dont worry about you mispronouncing Heikki's name. That's how everybody says it. Doesnt make it less wrong but it's very understandable. I've never heard it being pronounced any other way than "Hekki"

  • @davidmarecek1754
    @davidmarecek1754 Місяць тому

    I mean, I remember Heikki being really good in 07 and 08. 09 was when he fell off in my opinion.

  • @joribremer5260
    @joribremer5260 Місяць тому

    13:47 (Also the “Red Bull” chassis was very good in rainy conditions 3 cars in the top 4 during Qualifying

  • @bumblebity2902
    @bumblebity2902 Місяць тому

    Ferrari with underperforming Massa and sabotaged was lucky Kimi that Heikki was Temu Bottas

  • @aidansmith1354
    @aidansmith1354 Місяць тому

    What was the reason for the white bands on the tyres that year?

  • @theF1oracle
    @theF1oracle Місяць тому

    5:00
    Slowly searching to see if Walsall sunk my accumulator.....NO THE DIDN'T !!!!
    Turns out it was another team, sad times 😢

  • @FlyinBlaney
    @FlyinBlaney Місяць тому

    I beliebe it's actually "Hie-kee"

  • @Monumentos71
    @Monumentos71 Місяць тому

    If Heikki finished where he qualified in 2008, he would he fourth in the championship with 80-90 points… so yeah

  • @alexlazebat839
    @alexlazebat839 Місяць тому

    fisichella was similar 3 podiums a year in 2005, 2006

  • @simontravers2715
    @simontravers2715 Місяць тому

    @AidanMillward Good for Walsall, Paul Merson’s former club. Heard about Man Utd’s hygiene rating? (Check MEN news) 🤣🤣

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    He made some mistakes and he didn’t have the Pace during Races compared to Hamilton. He put in a few strong qualifying performances.

  • @dylanangel2870
    @dylanangel2870 Місяць тому

    Heikki 110% deserved the mclaren chance, just a shame he couldn't do anything with it, much like checo huh

  • @DasE30Cuz
    @DasE30Cuz Місяць тому

    tbh, I didn't really even notice you mispronouncing his name. Probably because the Pennsylvania accent I don't have causes me to pronounce it as a combo of both yours and the correct way.

  • @caincha
    @caincha Місяць тому

    If you think it was just bad luck you might think Mansell was a good driver.
    Overcooking the tyres, grinding your gearbox and lack of ability in the wet is all on the driver not 'bad luck'.
    Let's be even more controversial: Senna had 65 poles and only 41 wins. Why wasn't his percentage higher than that?
    Because he was incredibly fast and amazingly aggressive but it was this aggressive style that robbed him of several wins and at least one tittle (hadn't he crashed into a backmarker in 1989 the tittle would be his and no hijinx in Suzuka 89 and 90)

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    His qualifying performances were better than his Race performances. Yes he had some bad luck but he also made mistakes.

  • @mememostars9958
    @mememostars9958 Місяць тому

    wrong place , wrong times reminds about martin brundle

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    He had some bad Luck but he was off the Pace and made some mistakes.

  • @andygreener3130
    @andygreener3130 Місяць тому

    If ART hadn’t gone on a cheating spree mid 2005 from magny cours to Hungary, Heikki may well have beaten Rosberg to the GP2 title. ART started configuring the front wishbone and steering rod mounting positions in an illegal, advantageous manner. Me and everyone else had to wait around in the paddock in Hungary while the stewards ruled.

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    His Race performances weren’t strong enough he wasn’t quick enough no way on Hamilton level.

  • @episcot
    @episcot Місяць тому +1

    Heikki was just like every other one of Hamilton’s teammates - they could win races on merit or were excellent backup when needed

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    Kovalainen and Hamilton didn’t finish on the Podium together.

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    Yes Kovalainen had some bad luck but he also made some mistakes and was off the Pace for most of the season sometimes a few times he did show strong pace but not often.

  • @mattchambers8818
    @mattchambers8818 Місяць тому

    If you’re going to keep referring to the British media as biased without a shred of proof then maybe these videos should be reported to You Tube so that they can be taken down until they are edited. Maybe the relevant F1 people would not be interested but those are slanderous comments that could see a lawsuit.

    • @AidanMillward
      @AidanMillward  Місяць тому

      @@mattchambers8818I’m not calling them biased. It’s a reference to the people who keep calling them biased constantly because they can’t handle their driver being criticised.

    • @mattchambers8818
      @mattchambers8818 Місяць тому

      @ that is not clear in the video. Certainly back with Hill and Schumacher and with Hamilton and Verstappen, the British media cannot say anything negative about Verstappen or others however justified without it being perceived as biased.
      It frustrates me the number of people on social media who accuse the British media as biased because there are a lot of prominent seats filled by British drivers so they will be talked about a lot. It is aimed at a British audience who will have more of an interest naturally in British drivers so the media will cater for that audience. That may not be understood if you are watching that coverage in somewhere like America.

  • @ryancox530
    @ryancox530 Місяць тому

    Can someone in the comments why you wear a boston bruins or Toronto blue jays gear?

  • @martinj.fowler6262
    @martinj.fowler6262 Місяць тому

    Hey! Play Fair! If you're going to take the piss out of Lindsey and the lesser parts of Lincolshire; then really lay in on thick about, eh and depress the housing market! I've spent a bit of time in the West Midlands and although that was the habitable and welcoming parts such as Villa Park and Rowley Regis. However to get there I had to pass through the worst areas of the West Midlands areas such as Solihull, Walsall and even the den of iniquity that is

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    Yes he had bad luck but he also made mistakes and he wasn’t always on the Pace.

  • @simontravers2715
    @simontravers2715 Місяць тому

    Ah what the Hecky Aidan, it’s not like not being bothered pronouncing “I-Air-Ton Senna”

  • @Jb33124
    @Jb33124 Місяць тому

    dow need to apologise for how yo spake, Aidan! We spake propa English, dow we?

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    Kovalainen should of done better in 2008.

  • @cylonred8902
    @cylonred8902 Місяць тому +4

    I always pronounced - "Hei-kei"

  • @jtc4119
    @jtc4119 Місяць тому

    Yo

  • @tristanwhite3472
    @tristanwhite3472 Місяць тому

    In races and his tyres worn out,