Jul.23 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton would be happy to share the podium once again with his former McLaren teammate, Heikki Kovalainen.

Paddock speculation has linked Finn Kovalainen, who was Hamilton's teammate in 2008 and 2009, with a return to the upper half of the grid for 2013.

Kovalainen, 30, struggled during his stints with Renault and McLaren, winning just a single race, but he has rebuilt his reputation with startup stragglers Caterham.

Hamilton and Kovalainen each celebrated their 100th grand prix weekend at Hockenheim, but both suffered races they would rather forget.

Indeed, Hamilton said on the radio that he would like to retire his damaged McLaren, and later stood by his desire to give up.

"I don't understand the point in driving around in a broken car. I was just driving for the sake of driving," said the Briton.

Kovalainen also struggled at Hockenheim, but Hamilton nonetheless tipped him as a contender for a much better car in 2013.

"Heikki has shown himself to be one of the fastest drivers," he is quoted by the Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

"Unfortunately, he does not have a very good car now, but he's still shown many times that he is strong, consistent, mentally focused and very fast," said Hamilton.

"I really hope he will get the chance to have a faster car, so that we can be racing against each other once again."

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