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Flying Finnish racer Heikki Kovalainen has been confirmed as Lewis Hamilton's team-mate at Formula 1 team McLaren from for next year. Bodog will have tonnes of F1 odds for the new season.
Kovalainen, who is 26, will replace Spain´s two-time world champ Fernando Alonso who endured a rough season of behind-the-scenes fighting with the English team.
The Finn joins McLaren on a long-term contract and will take up his position with the team in January. Kovalainen's move follows the F1 merry-go-round that has been started up following Alonso´s defection back to Renault.
The French team - Renault - announced earlier this week that they had signed Alonso and Brazil´s Nelson Piquet Jnr for the 2008 F1 calendar. Kovalainen experienced a creditable debut 2007 season. He ended up in seventh spot in the drivers' championship. He registered his first career podium finish at the Japan Grand Prix. The Scandinavian also scored more points than his more seasoned Renault colleague Giancarlo Fisichella. McLaren have a reputation for signing Finns. In the past Mika Hakkinen and reigning world champ Kimi Raikkonen have raced with success there. Kovalainen commented "I am so excited to join a team like Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. So far I have been blown away by the dedication and commitment to winning which is clear through the entire organisation and I am really excited about our joint future. "As a Finn it's an honour for me to follow in Mika and Kimi's footsteps. I haven't really spent a lot of time with Lewis so far but from what I know I think we will work well together and do our best for the team."
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