Pedro de la Rosa v. Heikki Kovalainen- exactly the same performance, just one is old.

McLaren is likely kicking around the names of two gentlemen to team with Lewis Hamilton for the forthcoming F1 season. These men will be tasked with filling the shoes (however debacle ridden they might be) of one two-time World Champ by the name of Fernando Alonso. Pedro de la Rosa- McLaren tester and veteran of nine GP’s with the Woking outfit- and Heikki Kovalainen-soon to be sophomore, recently pushed aside at Renault by the aforementioned ex-World Champ and the son of another in Nelson Piquet jr-.

On the surface, the choice appears to be that of youth v. experience, up-and-coming hot shoe v. worn veteran, or perhaps even raising star v. declining journeyman.

Looking beyond the surface, and examining what both men have accomplished while in the sport paints a different picture.

er… to be more accurate, it creates exactly the same picture. You see, the two likely choices for the open race seat at McLaren have nearly identical career F1 statistics.

Both de la Rosa and Kovalainen share the same total number of victories (0), pole positions (0), podium finishes (1), and finishes in the points (11). Weird huh? Factor in the one point differential in total career points (HK has 30 PdlR has 29), and things get weirder than witnessing a triple-kiss while at your local sports bar.

It sounds like a virtual coin toss. De la Rosa is even quite optimistic about his prospects for a race seat promotion.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64367


Ah, but alas dear Pedro… The obvious outlier hurting you is that your less-than stellar figures were amassed whilst competing in 72 GP’s, compared to Kovalainen’s 17.

The kid happens to be a stud, and dear Pedro, you sir are no stud.

McLaren should (and does) want the younger, more promising shoe to team with Lewis Hamilton. HK is their #1 to be a #2.

However, should McLaren fail in securing the young Finn, he will squeeze into the hapless Toyota squad, and PdlR will have his F1 swansong. Just don’t count on it Pedro. HK to McL. Announced by Christmas.

These acronyms have made me cranky.