Kovalainen a ‘star of future’ – Norbert Haug
Team newcomer Heikki Kovalainen has so far scored just 24 points compared to his high-profile teammate Lewis Hamilton's 48 for the joint championship lead, but he has occasionally shown very strong pace.
Haug, the boss of McLaren's German manufacturer partner Mercedes-Benz, revealed there is "no firmly arranged time" for talks about renewing the 26-year-old Finn's current contract.
He told Auto Motor und Sport: "In the end only the speed plays a role, and he has shown that he has that.
"Not always consistently, but he has had some highlights. Heikki is a star in the making," Haug added.
In an interview with BBC Newsbeat, Kovalainen seems to agree.
Referring to his own performance for McLaren this season, he said: "I think there's been a lot of promise and the pace has been good but we haven't got good enough results yet."