Kovalainen will make "forced stages" to try the McLaren immediately

Heikki Kovalainen confirmed yesterday that he will make his track debut driving the McLaren-Mercedes next Tuesday, a day after the new car's official launch in Germany.

The twenty-six year old Finnish driver, in fact, told the news agency sid who will immediately fly to Jerez after the presentation of the MP4-23 at the Unterturkheim Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart. On the Spanish circuit, two new examples of the 2008 car will await him and his partner Lewis Hamilton. "I will take a direct flight from Stuttgart on Monday afternoon, where the following day I will try the new car for the first time. This debut makes me quite excited."

(d.08)