Ok, he is been a bit unlucky this season, with an engine failure last week and brake failure and puncture today at China. But...how much of that is bad luck and how much has he brought that on himself by poor driving and bad car management? And even when the car has been ok he has rarely excelled this season. His lack of points this year has now effectively cost Mclaren the constructors title (even though Lewis will hopefully wrap up the Drivers title in Brazil) and he has not been able to support Lewis in his fight against Ferrari. Maybe he deserves one more season to prove himself, and he is a really decent guy and very good with the media. But l am beginning to doubt he is got what it takes on the track and that Mclaren have made a mistake. How about Vettel for Mclaren as rear gunner for Lewis?

l am surprised Heikki has not done better. l first really noticed how good he was when he won the Race of Champions against Schumacher.

Either he is not happy with the way the car is set up or Lewis truly is a much better driver.

l would love to see Vettel in a top car but it might not work for him at McLaren because it will be difficult to get the team on his side, especially if Lewis really does take the championship. He is a brilliant driver.

Yes. He seems like a nice guy though,too bad for him.

At Renalut Last year he performed better & scored more points than Fisichella.. & in past too..in Nissan World series.etc in Past he was really good..
But l think the team Mclaren is not an Healthy Environment for his growth..

l think the team is more of an only concerned about lewis & usually the car is set up like lewis wants & the development is more of an for Lewis..and Heikki is usually sidelined..
Like when u r in an environment where u r not given importance its difficult.

At Renault engineers & the staff work diffrently at McLaren its completely diffrent.

At McLaren drivers r not allowed to create strategies during the race..at Renault its allowed.Its Alonso who usually tells when he wants to come into pits ..not Flavio or Symonds.

l tjink swap of drivers.nelsinho to Mclaren & Heikki back to Renault may help them both..still.

At present in the presence of Lewis ,McLaren has rather become an best place to spoil ur F1 career..if u r not an driver or a person who is mentally strong.!!..

One more bad thing for heikki-..its a ctually a bit funny. During the pre-race show on sundays.there is an section called 'Mobil 1-Flying lap' in which Heikki is to describe his lap .but the bad or funny part is..heikki says ''here is my lap'' & they always put up an Video of 'lewis hamilton' goin around the circuit..i would have opted out of the show if somebody would have done that to me.

Aw, it is his birthday - poor guy.

(but quietly yeah, he is not cutting the mustard at present)

l think he deserves to keep his seat in 2009 but he does need to up his game a bit.

btw its his birthday!!!

i think he is having a bad season.

Lewis sure has shown that with the same car Heikki could do better. He deserves another year to prove he can do more, but after that l am not so sure.

Is he good enough for McLaren? Basically, no he is not.

He is had a disappointing season. He is been unlucky, but at the same time when things have been going his way he is been uninspired. He deserves a drive in F1, definitely, but there are lots of other guys out there that could do a better job.

Lewis is the main one at Mclaren as he is so good, but Heikki is just having a bad season, l think

For his 1st year at Mclaren he has not done too bad. He is still needs to improve, to help Mclaren win constructors. I'd give him one or two more seasons.

It is mainly just bad luck.

See how he does next season before judging him, l think he just needs more time in the team.

l share much of ur views on Heikki Kovalainen. l can not give a definite verdict because he has had alot of bad luck but like u said, so far he seems to have something missing to be a top driver & like u said, his lack of points will probably cost McLaren the constructors title. Heikki has not helped Lewis & McLaren much on the track but at least off the track he has supported Lewis & given Lewis & McLaren the peace of mind that there was not with Alonso who was the traitor within & despite being a top driver, because of Alonso we lost both the drivers & constructors title. At least with Heikki, Lewis & McLaren look like winning the drivers title. So l think for his loyalty & gentleman nature & also for his talent which has not come out fully, Heikki deserves more time & another chance, & McLaren have already said they will give it to Heikki & confirmed Heikki for next season & thats fine by me too.