Finn's battling performance confirms talent, claims CEO Whitmarsh.
Although the Finn was prevented from pulling off a McLaren 1-2 behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Melbourne, McLaren admitted that it had been very impressed with Heikki Kovalainen's debut in silver and red.
After qualifying third, Renault refugee Kovalainen remained in the hunt for a podium throughout the race, eventually moving through to second place when BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica saw his challenge fade. Although he then faced pressure from countryman - and reigning world champion - Kimi Raikkonen, it was an ill-timed safety car period that finally did for Kovalainen's runner-up ambitions, demoting the Finn to battling for the minor points with Fernando Alonso, the man with whom he swapped seats over the winter.
"A solid one-two might have made us jump a little bit higher perhaps, but I'm sure we will get results like that this season because Heikki has crossed over to become a fantastic Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver," team CEO Martin Whitmarsh confided, "He came of age this weekend and will be pushing hard in Malaysia. We want him to do that and so does Lewis."
Whitmarsh said that he had been particularly impressed with how Kovalainen performed when faced with the attentions of the two world champions in the race.
"He pulled off some interesting moves against Kimi Raikkonen and did a fantastic job to get past Fernando Alonso with a couple of laps to go - although there was then a slight blemish when he activated the pit-lane speed limiter while removing a tear-off visor on the pit straight, so he lost the position again," Whitmarsh reflected.
"That notwithstanding, though, I believe he'll have drawn a great many positives from what he has achieved this weekend, and I have no doubts at all about his ability to win races this year. It was an important race for him and he'll come out of it with greater mental strength and confidence. The team has done its best to support him and he has paid that back with a calm, constructive contribution."
