Formula 1 Jam

The Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix was a debut to forget for Heikke Kovalainen, the rookie Renault driver. As if that misery was not enough, his drive has been labeled as “rubbish” by none other than Flavio Briatore, the Renault Team boss.

To quote BBC Sports:

“If I say it was good, I’m a complete idiot. It was rubbish,” Briatore said.

Kovalainen was modest enough to accept his failure but I seriously feel that Briatore’s comments were uncalled for. At the least not publicly to international media. What did he expect from Heikke? Come out and beat the pants of Alonso in a much better McLaren or out race Kimi Raikkonen in the meanest car on track? It was his Formula 1 debut after all. And he was in a car much off the pace of that of the other rookies, Lewis Hamilton.

While I am not arguing that Kovalainen drove a good race, far from it. But I believe that going public with such lashing and criticism towards a rookie, young, and entirely inexperienced driver is not the right morale boosting technique.