Kovalainen will test the 2008 McLaren very soon

Heikki Kovalainen confirmed that he will make his debut in a McLaren during tests next Tuesday, one day after the official launch of the MP4/23 scheduled in Germany.

The Finn told the SID news agency that, following the presentation of the MP4-23 at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Unterturkheim, Stuttgart, on January 7, he will then go to Jerez.

On the Spanish circuit, two new single-seaters from the Woking team will be available and ready to run. Kovalainen will be this year’s teammate of Briton Lewis Hamilton, who set the 2007 season alight!

« I will take a flight from Stuttgart on Monday afternoon directly to Jerez, where the next day I will test the new car for the first time, » said Kovalainen, who at 26 is experiencing his first major turning point in his young career.

« I am very happy about that, » he added.

After the colorful launch of the 2007 car by the British team in the streets of Valencia, this year’s event was always intended to be more ‘restrained,’ insisted Norbert Haug, director of Mercedes.

A big hole in the funds due to the payment of a certain fine in 2007 may be one of the main causes…

On Monday, the presentation in Stuttgart will, for the first time, be organized in Mercedes’ headquarters, which will once again supply the engines for McLaren’s single-seaters.