Heikki Kovalainen

Heikki Kovalainen is a racing driver, born October 19, 1981 in Suomussalmi, Finland. He is the second race driver for Formula 1 world champions Renault having occupied the role of third driver since 2005. Kovalainen's career began in karting, much like that of many other F1 racers. His karting career lasted from 1991 to 2000, during which time he finished runner-up in Finnish Formula A in 1999. Then in 2000 he became Nordic champion and won the Elf Masters. He was also elected Finnish Driver of The Year. Kovalainen began his car racing career in the British Formula Renault championship, which fellow Finn Kimi ... Read Full Story

Linked from http://autos.canada.com/news/story.html?id=83bba24f-663e-497a-b818-dd5daccddcde --- Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen is one of three true rookies in Formula One this season - and arguably the one with the most pressure on him. Kovalainen has taken over the seat at Renault that became vacant when double world champion Fernando Alonso switched to McLaren-Mercedes. Whether Kovalainen, 25, can ultimately fill some pretty big shoes remains to be seen. His F1 debut has been bumpy at best so far, with suggestions that he is underachieving. That's in stark contrast to fellow rookie Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, where he has earned podium finishes in each of the first five races ... Read Full Story

Linked from http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2007/6/6343.html --- After gleaning nine points from the last two Grands Prix, Heikki Kovalainen’s slow start to the season seems to be firmly behind him. Here, Kovalainen considers how his strong results in North America have affected his confidence and looks ahead to this weekend’s race at Magny-Cours… Q: Heikki, two strong races in North America and a positive test in Silverstone last week… things seem to be coming together for you at the moment? Heikki Kovalainen: I think I have some good momentum going at the moment - and I want to maintain that in France this weekend. Montreal was my ... Read Full Story

Linked from http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=40018 --- Renault's chief engineer Alan Permane says that Heikki Kovalainen is now living up to the expectations that the team had of him. The Finn had a shaky start to his debut season - and with fellow newcomer Lewis Hamilton raising the bar for rookies, Kovalainen was under pressure to raise his game. But Kovalainen has shown better form since coming from last to fourth in Canada, and Permane is delighted with his turnaround. "Heikki has certainly got his act together and is driving extremely well," he said in an interview on Renault's official podcast. "Heikki is now much more comfortable ... Read Full Story

Linked from http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39886 --- Heikki Kovalainen says he is still waiting to have a completely trouble-free grand prix weekend and show both his and Renault's full potential. In an interview on Renault's official podcast, the Finnish rookie said he was looking forward to the first time that everything came together in one weekend. "It's very competitive in Formula 1 and you've got to be really on the top of your game to do well," Kovalainen said. "It hasn't really kicked off properly for me yet. "There have been a lot of technical problems in the first part of the season, I've missed some practice ... Read Full Story