Poor old Heikki Kovalainen didn't have an easy introduction to
Formula One. You could say his first three years in the sport were
rather underwhelming, particularly given the fact that former boss
Flavio Briatore had labelled him "the anti-Alonso" - In other
words, the Italian believed that the young Finn had sufficient
speed to combat a double world champion. Five years later, and that
early promise is finally starting to reveal itself.
Kovalainen had a stellar reputation prior to his F1 debut. He
was third overall in British F3 in 2002 and runner-up at Macau the
same year, results which gave him the chance to test the race
winning Renault R23, and he impressed enough to be awarded a full
time reserve role with the team in 2004. At the end of the season
he triumphed in the Race of Champions by defeating the likes of
Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Loeb, and in 2005 was runner-up in
the newly founded GP2 series.
All in all, an impressive record. But having spent three years
in the shadows at Renault (in which time the team took back-to-back
titles), his opportunity came when reigning champion Fernando
Alonso jumped ship in an ill fated move to McLaren. Kovalainen was
immediately brought in to partner Giancarlo Fisichella as Renault
put together a partnership that they hoped would defend their
position at the top of the sport.
Except it didn't quite work out like that. The Renault R27 was a
disaster for the Enstone based squad, a difficult car which was
never going to allow its occupants a shot at the title, but
Kovalainen's initial performance was far from stellar. After
trailing home in tenth in his maiden race in Australia, team boss
Briatore went on the rampage: "If I say it was good, I'm a complete
idiot. It was rubbish." Soon though, it became apparent the car
wasn't capable of much more. Eventually, Heikki found his feet,
dragging the car to eleven top eight finishes and a remarkable
second place in Japan. He finished ahead of veteran team-mate
Fisichella in the standings.
Again, his fate would be intertwined with that of Alonso. The
Spaniard hadn't had the happiest year at McLaren, and made a
beeline back to Renault as soon as the season closed. After much
deliberating, Kovalainen was drafted in at Woking to partner
Hamilton.
The two were very close off track, but when the racing was
underway Kovalainen was clearly inferior to his team-mate. Hamilton
stumbled to the world title, but Heikki could only manage seventh
in the overall standings after scoring a fortuitous win in Hungary.
The following year was to be much worse, as McLaren misinterpreted
the new rules and Kovalainen never once troubled the podium,
finishing a distant twelfth in the standings. At the end of the
year McLaren signed new world champion Jenson Button, and the Finn
was finished.
Or so it seemed. But a lifeline was provided in the form of
Lotus, the resurrected name which was now re-entering the sport as
one of three new teams. Team owner Tony Fernandes went for an
experienced line-up, he paired Kovalainen up with fellow
race-winner and former Renault driver Jarno Trulli. Suddenly, with
the pressure off, Kovalainen prospered. Nobody expected the new
entrants to trouble the established runners in their very first
year, and sure enough, all three teams were blighted with
reliability issues and a chronic lack of pace. But Kovalainen
clearly had the better of Trulli, and when the Lotus did make a
surprise appearance in Q2, it was the Finn at the wheel. It was
also Heikki's hard won 13th place in Australia which guaranteed the
team tenth position and considerable prize money in the final
standings. Re-signed for 2011, he again led the Lotus charge, and
as the team inched towards competitiveness he emerged as the most
promising prospect at the back of the grid - consistently faster
than fellow backmarkers Trulli, Glock and Liuzzi, and on one or two
occasions he found himself mixing it with the Williams drivers,
much to their dismay. Again he was better than Trulli. Again he
sealed tenth in the title standings for his team.
The likeable Finn is set to head the team's challenge again in
2012, and for the re-badged Caterham team the target is now points
- and their number one driver is confident that he can deliver.
Initially thrown in at the deep end, Kovalainen is now working hard
to get back to where he deserves to be, and at the less glamorous
end of the grid, we're seeing one of F1's hottest prospects in
development. Despite not scoring for two years, Heikki's stock has
never been higher.