Onetime aspiring F1 driver Michael Bartels blasted McLaren's choice of
Heikki Kovalainen in an interview with the press agency SID.
"I don't understand why a German car maker does not give German drivers
a chance," complained Bartels, who failed to qualify in four attempts
in 1991, being clearly outpaced by his teammate -- and future McLaren
driver -- Mika Hakkinen.
Bartels, who has spent the past few years driving in the FIA GT
championship, felt that Mercedes should have used the clout of its 40%
ownership in McLaren to force the team to choose a German driver, rather
than allowing team principal Ron Dennis to make the choice.
Bartels claimed, contrary to information from most other sources, that
Williams could have been convinced to release rising star Nico Rosberg.
He also suggested that young talent Adrian Sutil could have been a fit
-- and then demonstrated that his opinions of driver talent do not match
those of the F1 team principals.
"Ralf (Schumacher) is fast and has great experience," said Bartels.
Toyota, however, chose not to renew Schumacher's contract, and the
German has not been able to close in on a race seat with even one of the
smaller teams (see separate story).
Meanwhile, Ron Dennis appears to be satisfied with the talent coming
from Finland, having previously engaged all three Finnish Formula One
champions: Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen -- though
admittedly only Hakkinen won his championships with the team.
Of course, the year is only a few days young, and the team has yet to
turn a wheel in anger for the new season, but Dennis' track record in
choosing young drivers -- such as Hakkinen, Raikkonen and 2007 World
Championship runner-up Lewis Hamilton -- certainly gives the longtime
team principal a lot of credibility.
