Everything about Heikki Kovalainen totally explained
Finnish |
Car number = 23 |
Team =
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes |
Team for 2007 =
Renault F1 Team |
Races = 23 |
Championships = 0 |
Wins = 0 |
Podiums = 2 |
Points = 45 |
Poles = 0 |
Fastest laps = 2 |
First race =
2007 Australian Grand Prix|
First win = |
Last win = |
Last race =
2008 Monaco Grand Prix|
Last season = 2007 |
Last position = 7th (30 pts) |
}}
Heikki Kovalainen (born
October 19,
1981 in
Suomussalmi,
Finland) is a racing
driver. He began his
Formula One career in the 2006 championship winning
Renault team in 2007. On
14 December 2007, it was announced he'd be the second driver for the
McLaren team for the 2008 season, as teammate to young Briton
Lewis Hamilton.
Karting career
Kovalainen's career began in
karting, much like that of many other F1 racers. His karting career lasted from
1991 to
2000, during which time he finished runner-up in
Finnish Formula A in
1999. Then in 2000 he became
Nordic champion and won the
Elf Masters. He was also elected Finnish Driver of The Year.
Pre-F1 racing career
Formula Renault
Kovalainen began his car racing career in the British
Formula Renault championship, which fellow Finn
Kimi Räikkönen had won the previous year before moving straight into Formula 1 with
Sauber. Kovalainen's apprenticeship in the junior categories of motor sport was more conventional, but was remarkable in that he used Renault power at every step along the way.
He finished fourth in the championship with two wins, two pole positions and three fastest laps, and earned the Rookie of the Year award.
Formula 3
Kovalainen attracted the support of the Renault Driver Development programme and in
2002 moved up to the
British F3 series with
Fortec Motorsport who used Renault engines. He became one of the most competitive drivers on the grid by the second half of the season and all five of his wins came in the final nine races. With three pole positions, three fastest laps and third overall in the championship behind
Robbie Kerr and
James Courtney Team boss
Flavio Briatore said: "With Kovalainen, I hope to find the anti-Alonso."
Renault
Kovalainen made his race debut in at the
2007 Australian Grand Prix. His performance was a huge disappointment; he made several mistakes during the race and finished 10th.
Flavio Briatore told the press after the race that it was a disappointing debut for the young Finn. He said that hopefully the real Heikki will show up next time.
Kovalainen scored his first World Championship point in his second Grand Prix at
Sepang,
Malaysia, and followed this with a disappointing race in
Bahrain. He then secured seventh place in
Barcelona, outperforming team mate
Giancarlo Fisichella. He was well down the order in
Monte Carlo and never looked like a points finish was a possibility. However, he came back strongly and finished in the points again in both North American races.
During the
Canadian GP, he made mistakes throughout practise, including one at the exit of turn 7, and hit the barrier, which was reminiscent of
Jacques Villeneuve. He crashed at the first chicane in qualifying, and damaged his rear wing significantly, and failed to make it through to the second session. He made progress early on, and then halted. He seemed to have a lot of luck with the strategy, and every time the
safety car came out it was beneficial to him. A podium was within his grasp, but he couldn't find a way past
Alexander Wurz of the
Williams, who also started towards the rear of the pack. Kovalainen was pulling away from fellow Finn
Kimi Räikkönen in his
Ferrari in the closing stages, which was a real confidence booster for the team.
In the
United States GP at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he also looked impressive. He qualified well,and a good start saw him go past Räikkönen to go into fifth place. He held Räikkönen off, and led the race at the end of his first stint because those cars ahead of him had already made their pit stops. He re-joined behind the Ferrari, but looked comfortable in sixth place until
Nick Heidfeld's
BMW Sauber broke down in front of him, and Heikki took over Heidfeld's fifth place. He stayed there until the chequered flag, and team-mate Fisichella failed to score points.
The second half of the European season failed to produce such strong results, but it did keep the points tally ticking over. During the
French GP at
Magny-Cours, there would be disappointment. He was with his team mate until the sharp Adelaide hairpin, where
Jarno Trulli's
Toyota made an optimistic lunge up the inside of Kovalainen which wrecked both drivers' races. Kovalainen had to go back to the pits for some repair work and subsequently overtook just a few backmarkers. Seventh place at the
British GP was no disaster, seeing as he beat Fisichella. The
Nürburgring only gave Kovalainen a point, although a better strategy may have seen him on the podium. The
Hungaroring only brought him one point, although
Istanbul Park netted three, with Kovalainen coming ahead of
Robert Kubica. Kovalainen led the Grand Prix there for a while, when those ahead of him outright pitted earlier than him. Seventh place at
Monza was a fair result. The team took a gamble at the next race in the
Spa-Francorchamps, with Kovalainen on a one stop strategy when his challengers for the rear end of the points were all on two stop strategies, which included the BMW's of Heidfeld and Kubica (who was sent ten places down the grid due to an engine change),
Nico Rosberg and
Mark Webber. A good start from Kovalainen saw him become a mobile chicane for all of these except Webber. The gamble didn't pay off, although Kovalainen held off Kubica in the closing stages to secure the final points position. Better was to come at the
Japanese GP at
Fuji Speedway, where, despite not making it through to the final qualifying session, Kovalainen raced well. While most of his rivals got into trouble in one way or another, Kovalainen didn't and held off Kimi Räikkönen to take second place and his first podium in Formula One.
McLaren
On 14 December 2007, it was confirmed that Kovalainen would drive the second car for
McLaren Mercedes for the
2008 Formula One season alongside
Lewis Hamilton. Kovalainen is the fourth Finn to race for the Woking based team, following
Keke Rosberg,
Mika Häkkinen and
Kimi Räikkönen, all of whom have won the World Championship, albeit Mika Häkkinen being the only Finn to win the World Championship in a McLaren car. Kovalainen began his first official testing session with McLaren on
January 9 2008 with
Pedro de la Rosa at
Jerez, and continued the next day with Lewis Hamilton. Kovalainen's best laptime was 1:19.752, losing to Hamilton only by 0.061 seconds. On the third day of Valencia testing Kovalainen posted the fastest lap of the day with 1:11.000, a new lap record on the Valencia track for a V8 engine. On the third day of Jerez testing Kovalainen posted the fastest lap of the day with 1:17.974, a new lap record on the Jerez track for a V8 engine. In his first race at the
2008 Australian Grand Prix he was the quickest in Q1 and started 3rd on the grid behind
Lewis Hamilton and
Robert Kubica. A safety car situation prevented Kovalainen from finishing in second place behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton. He ended the race in fifth, after accidentally pressing the pit lane limiter on the final lap and granting fourth place to Fernando Alonso.
2008 Spanish Grand Prix
At the
2008 Spanish Grand Prix on
27 April 2008, Kovalainen was leading on lap 22, when his car crashed into the tyre wall. The crash was very reminiscent to
Lewis Hamilton's crash
the previous year at the
Nürburgring, with a similar looking tyre failure. Kovalainen's car was almost completely buried under the tyres, which consisted of five rows. In previous years, the same position only had three rows of tyres. Additional two rows were added for the 2008 race by Paco "Paquillo" Mora, who is responsible for the mainentance of the track. This possibly saved Kovalainen from hitting the wall, thus preventing a possible serious injury. He waited in his car as marshals removed it from the track. The safety car was deployed for six laps as the debris was removed, and he was finally removed from the car and placed in a stretcher, at which point he gave a "thumbs-up", the first sign of life for over 10 minutes. He was then taken by helicopter to a
Barcelona area hospital for further tests. His final condition was a minor concussion, whilst also complaining of a sore elbow and neck. He was released from the hospital the next day and was able to race in the Turkish Grand Prix, two weeks later.
Racing record
* Season in progress
Complete Formula One results
(Races in
bold indicate pole position) (Races in
italics indicate fastest lap)
* Season in progress
Further Information
Get more info on 'Heikki Kovalainen'.
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