Grand Prix Rejects

From Speedtv.com
Kovalainen Admits F1 Exit Possible: Heikki Kovalainen has admitted it is possible he will walk away from F1 at the end of the season. Although highly-rated, the Finn could be dropped by Caterham for 2013, due to the team dropping outside the lucrative top ten places in the constructors' championship. It is believed the Tony Fernandes-led team is considering replacing him with the sponsored Dutch driver, Giedo van der Garde. Kovalainen, 31, ruled out keeping his F1 dream alive by turning to a test driver position. "If I am not a racing driver, I will do something totally different," he is quoted by rtl.nl. "I have a few ideas but I haven't really thought about it. Apart from Formula One, there is little that interests me, not even sports cars. DTM? No. America? No. Rally is really the only thing that interests me, but we have seen how difficult that is," he said. Rtl.nl claims that if Kovalainen finishes outside the top 10 in both Austin and Brazil, he will beat Italian Piercarlo Ghinzani's record for the most consecutive Grands Prix without scoring a point. "Of course I would prefer the record for the most number of points consecutively, but it is what it is," said Kovalainen.
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/ ... iefs157/P2



Heikki could potentially surpass Piercarlo Ghinzani's record for the most consecutive Grand Prix without a scoring a point. This just cannot be. How can we let this happen? Time for the conspiracy theorists to stand up?

That's simply incorrect. If I count correctly, Ghinzani had 84 GPs without points after his 5th place, while Kovalainen only has 59. He would have to wait until 2014 to surpass Ghinzani.

pi314159 wrote:That's simply incorrect. If I count correctly, Ghinzani had 84 GPs without points after his 5th place, while Kovalainen only has 59. He would have to wait until 2014 to surpass Ghinzani.

Ah, but he means Grand Prix starts, not entries

tommykl wrote:

pi314159 wrote:That's simply incorrect. If I count correctly, Ghinzani had 84 GPs without points after his 5th place, while Kovalainen only has 59. He would have to wait until 2014 to surpass Ghinzani.

Ah, but he means Grand Prix starts, not entries

Which means Ghinzani would only have 60 Grand Prixs were he qualified for the race since that points finish.

Wizzie wrote:

tommykl wrote:

pi314159 wrote:That's simply incorrect. If I count correctly, Ghinzani had 84 GPs without points after his 5th place, while Kovalainen only has 59. He would have to wait until 2014 to surpass Ghinzani.

Ah, but he means Grand Prix starts, not entries

Which means Ghinzani would only have 60 Grand Prixs were he qualified for the race since that points finish.

Now I understand. I was a little confused because in the text it said "Grand Prix", not "races".

Kovalainen is only 31?! Goodness, I thought he was around longer than that.

This is only Kovalainen's sixth season in F1. He didn't start too young (Vettel will become a three-time champion with less than the age Heikki had in 2007).

I won't miss him. Or his sunglasses.

I honestly hope he scores a point between now and the end of the season so he doesn't wipe poor old Ghinzani from the record books. Nobody as bland as Kovalainen deserves such an honour. Ghinzani was actually a good driver, but always placed in bad cars. Kovalainen, though, gambled with Lotus since his venture with McLaren botched up, and wasted all his potential at Caterhahahahahaham.

Sorry, I don't usually rant that much.

JeremyMcClean wrote:I honestly hope he scores a point between now and the end of the season so he doesn't wipe poor old Ghinzani from the record books.

I actually share pretty much the same sentiment. In fact, I always baulk when there's a chance of an old F1 record being broken this season. I will never forgive Jaime Alguersuari for becoming the youngest driver to start in the process breaking Mike Thackwell's record, or the Finger beating Mansell's pole record. But well, that's just me! Totally nostalgic, wishing I lived decades earlier. Heh

Glock could do the same, also.

Dj_bereta wrote:Glock could do the same, also.

Actually, no. He failed to start the last three races of 2009, in which Heikki failed to score, and also DNS-ed three more times in the past three years, which leaves him with five less races than Heikki in that respect.

tommykl wrote:

Dj_bereta wrote:Glock could do the same, also.

Actually, no. He failed to start the last three races of 2009, in which Heikki failed to score, and also DNS-ed three more times in the past three years, which leaves him with five less races than Heikki in that respect.

But Glock is more certain of a drive for 2013 than Kovalainen so he could well end up on top.

Mixed feelings on this as I really want Ghinzani to keep the record but I don't want Caterham to finish higher than Marussia.

So Kovalainen 10th and Glock 9th in Brazil then! (You never know, especially if it rains)

On a slightly related note, a while ago I heard something (probably in a dream) about someone other than Tony Fernandes being the team principal of Caterham.

Waris wrote:On a slightly related note, a while ago I heard something (probably in a dream) about someone other than Tony Fernandes being the team principal of Caterham.

That's correct. It wasn't a dream. Cyril Abiteboul is Caterham's new team principal.