McLaren chief exec Whitmarsh praises young guns pairing
Thursday, 10 Apr 2008 16:16
Whitmarsh (centre) and Hamilton (left) on the podium last season
Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren chief executive, has praised the burgeoning relationship between drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen.
The two drivers, whose total age is less than 50, first joined forces with the team during the off-season last year following Fernando Alonso's decision to leave to rejoin Renault.
Both men spoke highly of each other earlier in the year and after three races of the current campaign, their relationship still appears to be strong.
Despite their tender ages, both Hamilton and Kovalainen have started the season in a positive fashion and sit joint third in the drivers' standings on 14 points each.
And Whitmarsh says a 'healthy rivalry' is developing that will push both men on to better results as the year goes on.
"Both Heikki and Lewis have learned a lot in the 20 grands prix they've done," the McLaren boss explained.
"They are deeply ambitious - and I know teams always claim their drivers love each other - but everyone at McLaren Mercedes can sense the mutual admiration that exists between them.
"They want to beat each other but they are open and fair, so there are lots of positives."
On Kovalainen, who, like Hamilton, is in only his second season in formula one, Whitmarsh said he is "getting stronger and stronger".
"The feeling within the team is that we still haven't seen the best of him," he continued.
"Lewis thinks as much, too, and that's good because he knows he'll have to raise his game."
The next race on the calendar, in Barcelona, marks the beginning of the first European stint of the F1 season on April 27th, followed by the Turkish and Monaco races before the teams head to Canada in June.