2007 was the year when Lewis Hamilton debuted in Formula 1 and it marked the beginning of his journey towards becoming a seven-time world champion. Hamilton impressed the entire world with his performances in 2007, much like he has almost every single year since. However, there was another rookie who debuted alongside him that year. According to MotorSport Magazine, he was the ‘real deal’ in F1 back in the day.
The driver in question here is Heikki Kovalainen. Kovalainen made his F1 debut with Renault in the same year as Hamilton after spending a couple of years with the team as their test driver. He filled in for Fernando Alonso, who left them to join Mclaren.
The Finnish driver was one of the brightest stars during his junior driving career. He shone brightly in his F2 years and lost on the GP2 title to Nico Rosberg by a very narrow margin.
Kovalainen, Hamilton’s perfect wingman
Accordinga recent report by Motorsport Magazine, Nigel Stepney and Matt Bishop had a conversation on Kovalainen back in 2006. During the conversation in Brazil where the duo traveled together in a car, Bishop asked the late Ferrari engineer about Lewis Hamilton.
Bishop asked Stepney to share his thoughts on the British driver and if McLaren was right to have chosen the young man. Replying to this, he said, “It’s going to be tough for him [Lewis Hamilton]. But the rookie I’m more interested in next year is [Heikki] Kovalainen. I reckon he’s the real deal.”
Furthermore, Phil Prew, who is now a senior F1 power unit engineer at Mercedes also praised the Finnish driver for his ability to a perfect wingman. The very next year, Kovalainen joined Renault and teamed up with Giancarlo Fisichella in the French led by under Flavio Briatore.
How did Kovalainen turn up against Lewis Hamilton in his rookie year?
The stakes were high for Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen during their debut season in F1. While Hamilton went on to shock the world by nearly winning the world championship, Kovalainen struggled to make a big mark. However, just the very next year, the Finn would end up partnering up with Hamilton at McLaren.
In their debut season in 2007, Hamilton finished the season in P2 with 109 points, and Kovalainen ended with 30 points. The former lost out on the world championship by just one point.
Lewis Hamilton is a driver with 103 wins now. Compared to him, Heikki Kovalainen had just one win to his name before he retiring from the sport in 2013. Presently, the Finnish star was found to be driving GT cars in Japan in 2022 and has developed a taste for off-road racing lately.
