Heikki Kovalainen: Win or Bust for Nico Rosberg at Russian GP

Heikki Kovalainen 00:19 10/10/2015
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  • This weekend's Formula One action brings us to Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix.

    There is a bit of a disappointing trend with modern circuits like Sochi in that they often tend to be more boring than the old ones. When they are being built, the new modern regulations have to be followed so the safety standards are considerably higher. The facilities around the track are always very impressive but the circuit layout can be less exciting and lack character in comparison to some of the old circuits like Spa or Suzuka.

    Sochi isn’t so bad though, and Russia is a place where Formula One really continues to develop in popularity as a result of Vitaly Petrov and Daniil Kvyat’s exploits. Vitaly was an old team-mate of mine at Caterham and he was the first driver to initiate the interest in F1 in Russia. With over 140 million people living in Russia, there is a lot of potential to raise further interest and staging the Grand Prix is a huge opportunity for success going forward. 

    The Dennis dynamic at McLaren
    Jenson Button in action during the Japanese Grand Prix.

    Since the last Grand Prix in Japan, one of the main headlines has been Jenson Button signing for another year at McLaren. It represents a massive boost to a team who are going through a difficult period this season. With Fernando Alonso also in their ranks, they boast two vastly experienced drivers that can steer the team in the right direction. The main problem at McLaren is the power issue, and in order for this to be resolved, they need to work more closely with Honda. I’m sure they will come back strong, but it’s just a matter of when this will happen. 

    Much has been said about Ron Dennis over the past few weeks. I dealt with Ron a lot when I raced with McLaren in 2008 and he was a great guy to work with. He’s very demanding but a great leader and, most importantly, he’s fair. He always makes sure that his employees have the tools and the environment to perform at the maximum level. The McLaren Technology Centre is a very impressive place to go, and what Ron’s created is a nice environment for people to work. It’s not easy to be working for Honda and McLaren with the ongoing power issues, and Ron will be motivating everyone to the maximum in order to get answers. He’s a tough boss but he’s the right person to lead McLaren back to success.

    Grosjean’s gamble with Haas?

    Another interesting bit of driver news for next season is Romain Grosjean’s move to the new Haas team. Personally, I think it’s a little risky. Romain is looking for the link that will catapult him into a Ferrari seat one day, but if he does not perform well at Haas and slips out of the top 10-15, he’ll lose momentum. There are new and exciting drivers coming into F1 all the time, so he needs to keep his momentum if he wants a seat at Ferrari in the future. He’s produced some good results this season and it’s important he continues to maintain this form going forward. It will be interesting to see what Haas can do and what type of car they will produce next season. 

    I had a similar experience when moving to Lotus in 2010, alongside Jarno Trulli. At the time, the facilities weren’t good enough to build and design a competitive car. But Haas, as I understand, have a slightly different project in place. They are getting a lot of technical support from Ferrari and Williams which will benefit them a lot. I’d expect the car to be more competitive than a team that starts completely from scratch, and hopefully they can do well. 

    Can Nico stop Lewis?

    Back to the action in Russia this weekend and I expect, as usual, Mercedes to be at the front. What happened at Singapore was something nobody foresaw but it was back to business as usual in Japan. In Sochi it will be exciting to see what kind of performance Mercedes can produce against Ferrari and Williams, though the cooler temperatures should favour the former. 

    Nico Rosberg has to win in Russia to remain in the hunt for the title and he’ll need some misfortune from Lewis in order for that to happen. It’s quite simply a must-win Grand Prix for the German if he wants to challenge his team-mate and close the already large gap of 48 points that separates both Mercedes drivers in the standings. 

    Another battle that excites me is between Ferrari and Williams. I expect Williams will be strong as they performed so well on this track last season. This is another great opportunity for them to carve out a promising result, with Valtteri Bottas leading the siege for a podium finish. 

    PREDICTIONS FOR SOCHI

    1. Lewis Hamilton
    2. Nico Rosberg
    3. Valtteri Bottas

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