Kovalainen remained with Lotus in . At the season-opening , he was forced to retire after a water leak, before recording his first finish of the season in Malaysia where he finished 15th, before a 16th-place finish in China. He finished 19th in Turkey and crashed out in Spain, having started from 15th on the grid, outqualifying the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil. He finished 14th in Monaco and 19th at the , with further retirements in Canada and Great Britain. Kovalainen finished 16th at the , before another retirement due to a water leak in Hungary. Kovalainen then finished each of the next five races, with a best placing of 13th at the . He also finished on the lead lap, in 18th place at the , and finished ahead of the Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez in Korea, in 14th place. In India, Kovalainen finished 14th again, running as high as tenth place during the race.