Thursday 5 June at 17:50 : Heikki Kovalainen's 23 point deficit to his McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton has not relegated him to de facto 'number two' status.

That is the insistence of team engine partner Mercedes-Benz's competition boss Norbert Haug, who denies that the Finnish driver will now fall in line to protect Hamilton's slim championship lead over the two Ferrari competitors.

Asked by Switzerland's Motorsport Aktuell when the right moment will arrive to concentrate on just a single driver, Haug replied: "In our opinion, never."

Although delivering good pace relative to Briton Hamilton this year, team newcomer Kovalainen, 26, has been struck by bad lack and in the eyes of some is unlikely to now bridge the gap in the title chase.

But Germany's Haug insists: "After six races, I would not say that.

"You only need to look at last year -- at a later stage than this in the championship, Kimi Raikkonen was a greater distance from the top than Heikki is now."