Tag: Heikki Kovalainen

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Formula 1 Lotus

Heikki Kovalainen says yes to Kimi’s sloppy seconds

Heikki Kovalainen

Nico Hulkenberg: No.
Michael Schumacher: No.
Heikki Kovalainen: Yes!

At last, Lotus has announced who will fill-in for the injured Kimi Raikkonen at the United States and Brazilian Grands Prix. After a couple of false starts, Heikki Kovalainen is the man. The 32-year-old Finn will enjoy a popular return to the grid after previous stints with Renault (now Lotus F1 Team, 2004–07), McLaren (2008–09), Lotus (now Caterham, 2010–12).

Lotus is currently on 297 points in the Constructors’ Championship; behind Ferrari (323) and Mercedes AMG (334). Team Principal, Eric Boullier, explains experience outweighed the exuberance of youth at this late stage in the season.

“On the one hand we had our reserve driver Davide Valsecchi—who is a talented young driver that has shown a great deal of promise—and on the other we had the opportunity to bring in a seasoned Formula 1 competitor in Heikki,” Boullier said.

“Whilst we have every faith in Davide’s abilities, we are obviously involved in a tight Constructors’ Championship battle, so it was decided that the experience Heikki could bring to the team would be invaluable as we aim to finish the year in the best position possible.

“We must thank Tony Fernandes and Caterham F1 Team for their professional conduct in allowing Heikki to join us for the final races of this season.”

Heikki is just happy to be back on the grid and we hope it goes well for him.

“Jumping into a car so late in the year when you have not been competing in the races all season will be a challenge,” Kovalainen said. “But I know the team at Enstone well so I have no concerns about getting up to speed.

“This is a great opportunity for me, so I would like to thank Tony Fernandes and Caterham F1 Team for allowing me to take advantage of it.”

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Formula 1

Hulkenberg says no to Kimi’s sloppy seconds

2013 Korean Grand Prix

Kimi Raikkonen’s hurty back has given Lotus an empty racecar for the next two grands prix and word is the team has offered the drive to Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg. Despite being one of the favourites to replace Kimi on a full-time basis in 2014 Hulkenberg has turned down the chance to fill in for Raikkonen in the US and Brazil.

Hulkenberg’s manager, Werner Heinz, told Bild, “We had an offer from Lotus, are available and have discussed about it. But we decided that Nico will drive the last two races with Sauber.”

Isn’t it nice to see such loyalty in F1 these days. Let’s forget for a moment that Nico shares an empty wallet with Kimi, thanks to Sauber’s own financial plight and that contractual issues might have made a late season switch problematic for Hulkenberg.

What we do want to know, though, is can we now put a line through Hulkenberg’s name on the shortlist of drivers in the sights of the Lotus F1 Team for 2014?

And in a late development it looks like Caterham reserve driver and former F1 regular Heikki Kovalainen is willing to answer Lotus’ SOS and lap up Kimi’s sloppy seconds.

[Source: Adam Cooper | Pic: Sauber Motorsport AG]

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Motorsports

Crunch time for Kovalainen

Heikki Kovalainen

Lotus F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen was representing Team Finland in the Race of Champions last weekend. Things didn’t quite go to plan when he was racing rally ace Sebastien Loeb at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS. Apparently a suspension failure and a jammed throttle caused him to lose control and smash through the barriers.

Fortunately, the incident happened moments after the drivers crossed the finish line otherwise Loeb may have found his way into the muddle as well.

According to Kovalainen’s twitter feed he was unconscious for 30 seconds, but didn’t suffer any major injuries. Footage of Heikki’s stack can be seen below.

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz News

McLaren launches title defence with MP4-24

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24

Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes launched the title defence of Lewis Hamilton’s world championship by revealing their 2009 car, the MP4-24. This is the first McLaren to wear the number 1 since Mika Hakkinen in 2000, following his 1999 championship.

With limits on in-season development during the 2009 season, Ron Dennis explains some of the challenges in building the car, “The biggest problem is the concept of the car because if you have the wrong concept you are locked into an uncompetitive car.”

Lewis Hamilton is refreshed heading into the new season, “I feel more relaxed going into the season simply because I’m come off a great season. I feel I have reset my goals, and reset my targets back to when I started in Formula One. I want to be world champion. I don’t sit here saying I am world champion; I sit here saying I want to be world champion.”

Heikki Kovalainen, too, is ready for the challenges ahead, “Well obviously there are many big changes coming to the season and there are still a few unknown things like the qualifying format that could spice up the things. But I think it is a big challenge for everybody. The cars will feel a little bit different and we need to adjust and adapt the driving style a little bit. Maybe the set-up will be a little bit different, and there are a lot of questions we need to answer before Melbourne.”

More images below and full media access on the launch of the MP4-24 is available at the McLaren website.

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