by Russell Atkins
TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE
To read the interview in full, click here
Casting an eye over the 2008
Formula 1 grid, former world champion Alan Jones admits that there have not been a great deal of surprises thus far – though he did have words of praise for McLaren-Mercedes new boy
Heikki Kovalainen.
The Finn is back in Istanbul this weekend after his horrific smash in the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago, in which his MP4-23 became so heavily embedded in the Circuit de Catalunya's tyre barriers that even his head was no longer visible. The 26-year-old hit back to lap second-quickest in opening practice in Turkey, however, displaying a characteristic gutsiness that Jones clearly admires.
“Kovalainen has gone a lot better than what I thought he would,” the straight-talking Aussie underlined, speaking exclusively to
Crash.net Radio. “He's jumped in the
McLaren and really taken it to them. I think he's been very impressive. Other than that I think all the people are in the same spots where they deserve to be.
“I think the
status quo is beginning to take shape a little bit now –
Ferrari and McLaren are proving to be strong, and it's the same old pretenders and contenders up there. I think it's really going to be between Kimi [Raikkonen] and
Lewis Hamilton.
“I don't think [the spy scandal] will have affected them [McLaren] at all. They're not psychologically that tender, that a little thing like that is going to put them off their game. I think they've been around long enough and are now old enough and ugly enough that that's just water off a duck's back. I think they'll just get on with it.
