Heikki Kovalainen

- Published on Dec 6th, 2010 by The Badger

Life Before F1
Kovalainen enjoyed much success on his route to F1. He was strong in British F3 in 2002, taking third overall in his rookie year, before switching to World Series by Nissan for 2003. He was runner-up to team-mate Franck Montagny that year before sweeping to the championship himself the following season. 2005 brought a switch to the new GP2 Series with Christian Horner's Arden team, and for much of the season Heikki looked set to become the inaugural champion. However his form faded late-on whilst rival Nico Rosberg hit a purple patch, and Kovalainen had to settle for runner-up spot. Nevertheless he'd done enough to catch the eye of the F1 team bosses.

F1 Career
After a year of dutiful testing Kovalainen was promoted to a race drive with Renault when double world champion Fernando Alonso departed for McLaren in 2007. It started badly - team boss Flavio Briatore was particularly scathing following Heikki's debut in Australia - but as the year progressed the Finn got on to level terms with teammate Giancarlo Fisichella. By the season's end he was beating the veteran Italian, and bagged himself a McLaren drive for 2008 - once again replacing Alonso.

That season was up and down, with Heikki finishing seventh in the standings while teammate Lewis Hamilton won the title, but it did provide Kovalainen with his maiden win at the Hungaroring, making him the 100th man to win an F1 race. There's something you can't take away from him!

2009 however was a bit of a nightmare. Unable to wrestle the uncompetitive McLaren to the same heights as his team-mate Heikki’s reputation took a hammering. When the car came good the Finn was able to string some good results together, but was still totally overshadowed by his team-mate; while Heikki was taking home fifth and sixth place finishes Lewis was winning Grand Prix.

So it was no surprise when he lost his drive, especially when world champ Jenson Button became available. He found a new home with Lotus for 2010 and was able to begin the rebuilding of his reputation by getting his head down and putting in the hard work necessary to move the team up the grid.

The fruit of those labours will be seen in 2011, when Kovalainen and team-mate Jarno Trulli will expect a far more competitive car. If he gets it Heikki is capable of springing some surprises this year.

And another thing...

• Kovalainen became the 100th Grand Prix winner when he took the chequered flag first at the Hungarian GP of 2008.
• He is the eighth Finnish racer to compete in F1 and joins countrymen Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen as F1 race-winners.