Pressure is one thing world champions have to cope with it – and that is how we will see if he has got the makings to become one. If he can continue to keep it together to the end of the season then he will be in a good position.
Two drivers that are also in a good position, but not quite up with Lewis, Fernando, Kimi and Felipe are
BMW Sauber’s
Nick Heidfeld and
Robert Kubica.
BMW are in a strong position, as they have been all year, to keep picking up healthy points and lead the rest of the pack – and that will be the case again at Monza on Sunday.
Yes, they are somewhat struggling to find those extra few tenths, whether it be in qualifying or race trim, to match the ‘big boys’, but they have still done a great job. Reliability has been sound and Nick and Robert - who have both been re-signed recently, which, was a good decision when you consider the drivers’ market - are doing a fantastic job. There is nothing between the pair of them and they keep pulling each other along.
Another driver that has impressed me this year, like Nick and Kubica, is Renault’s #2
Heikki Kovalainen and he really has come on in leaps and bounds – as he showed again in Turkey with another good points finish, his sixth in the last seven races.
At the start of the year he struggled a bit and psychologically I am sure it was affecting him. But he has put that all behind him and is becoming the stronger of the
Renault pairing.
It is all very positive and I think he is ‘the future’ as opposed to
Giancarlo Fisichella, who has been around quite a while now.
If Fisi continues to get beaten by his team-mate, then it is going to be tough for him to keep his place, although, in my view, having someone with experience is very useful. It will be a hard decision for the
regie to have to look elsewhere, unless of course talk Alonso could return to Renault does materialise.
