Heikki Kovalainen

**Heikki Johannes Kovalainen** is a Finnish racing driver that raced in Formula 1.5 in 2007 for Renault and again between 2010 and 12 for Lotus and Caterham.

## F1.5 History

### Renault (2007)

Renault's lead driver Fernando Alonso had signed for McLaren for the 2007 season, and Renault elected to promote Kovalainen in his place, which they confirmed on 6 September 2006. Team boss Flavio Briatore said: "With Kovalainen, I hope to find the anti-Alonso."

Kovalainen made his race debut at the Australian Grand Prix. His season got off to a rough start; he made several mistakes during the race, finishing sixth. Flavio Briatore felt it was a disappointing debut for the young Finn and hoped the real Kovalainen would show up next time.

At round 6 in Canada, he made mistakes throughout practice, including one at the exit of turn 7, and hit the barrier. He crashed at the first chicane in qualifying, and damaged his rear wing significantly, and failed to make it through to the second qualifying session. In the race he made progress early on, and then halted. He had luck with the strategy and the Safety Car that promoted him to his maiden F1.5 podium to finish third.

The next race in the US he would take his maiden win. The second half of the European season failed to produce equally strong results, but it did keep the points tally ticking over. During the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, he was battling with Fisichella until the sharp Adelaide hairpin, when Jarno Trulli's Toyota made an optimistic lunge up the inside of Kovalainen which wrecked both drivers' races. Kovalainen had to pit for repairs and eventually finished 11th. Third place at the British Grand Prix was no disaster, with Fisichella finishing behind him.

Kovalainen took his second and final win of his career in Japan.

Kovalainen left Renault and F1.5 at the end of the year.

### Team Lotus (2010-2011)

#### 2010 Season

It was announced on 14 December 2009, that Kovalainen would drive for Lotus Racing in 2010 along with Jarno Trulli. The team made their debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix on 14 March 2010. The car was off the pace in pre-season testing, due to a lack of downforce caused by the need for a conservative initial design. Kovalainen finished in ninth position in the race.

In Australia, Trulli did not start the race and Kovalainen finished 8th. In Malaysia, Kovalainen retired with 10 laps to go, and followed this up with eigth in China, while in Spain Kovalainen failed to start with gearbox problems. He retired in Monaco with steering problems, and in Turkey with hydraulic problems. Kovalainen finished 10th in Canada, 2 laps down.

At Valencia on lap 9 F1.0 driver Mark Webber's Red Bull hit Kovalainen's Lotus and went over the top, before landing and skidding into the barrier. Kovalainen recovered to the pits but retired from the race. A 11th-place finish at Silverstone and a ninth in Hungary sandwiched his fourth retirement of the season in Germany, due to damage caused by a collision with Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa. He retired yet again at the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix after his car caught fire in the final lap, although his decision to not go into the pit lane and instead stop at the side of the track and tackle the blaze himself was met with applause from the crowd.

#### 2011 Season

Kovalainen remained with Lotus in 2011. At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, he was forced to retire after a water leak, before recording his first finish of the season in Malaysia where he finished 9th, before a 10th-place finish in China. He finished 13th in Turkey and crashed out in Spain. He finished 9th in Monaco and 13th at the European Grand Prix, with further retirements in Canada and Great Britain. Kovalainen finished 11th at the German Grand Prix, before another retirement due to a water leak in Hungary. Kovalainen then finished each of the next five races, with a best placing of 8th at the Italian Grand Prix. He also finished on the lead lap, in 12th place at the Japanese Grand Prix, and finished ahead of the Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez in Korea, in 8th place.

During the season, Kovalainen outqualified teammates Trulli and Karun Chandhok in 17 out of the 19 races held, and Team Lotus principal Tony Fernandes stated that he was satisfied with Kovalainen's performance over the season.

### Caterham (2012)

Kovalainen was retained by the team – renamed Caterham for 2012 – for a third year, partnering Vitaly Petrov. This season was more stable, as Kovalainen finished all races but the initial Australian Grand Prix. He finished a high of 7th at Monaco and outscored his teammate by 7 points over the season.

Kovalainen and Petrov were dropped in favour of Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde ahead of the 2013 season.