Regarding Finland, there is a stereotype that people from this northern country are slow and unhurried. However, at the same time, the small Scandinavian republic constantly supplies dashing and fast racers for Formula 1 races. Mika Hakinen, Kimi Raikonen - all these jet Finns were in the lead roles in the strongest racing series in the world. Among his distinguished compatriots, Heikki Kovalainen, the pilot of the Renault, McLaren, Lotus-Caterham teams, is not so noticeable. He started his career well, completing his first seasons in the top ten, but then, without sponsorship, he was forced to cooperate with a not very solid team and was no longer among the strongest.
The path to Formula 1
Almost all the strongest race car drivers in the world began their sports career in karting. On small open cars, even children can hone their driving skills. Heikki Kovalainen followed this path, whose early years passed on the karting track. He began to engage in motorsport at the age of ten, having achieved good success. In 1999 he became the second in the country, and a year later he won the championship of Scandinavia.
He also reached the world podiums, becoming the bronze medalist of the planet.
The next stage in the biography of Heikki Kovalainen was the participation in the British Formula Renault series. An ambitious newcomer aggressively and boldly worked on the track, not embarrassed by competition from more experienced competitors. In his first season, Heikki won two races and finished the year in fourth place.
The young Finn attracted the attention of Renault and was included in the sponsorship program of the concern. The 2002 season, Heikki Kovalainen started already in Formula 3 races. Here he was also in leading roles and regularly won at the stages of this racing series.
Royal Series Debut
The young Finnish racer soon outgrew the level of minor racing versions and in 2005 was invited as a test pilot to the Renault team to test the cars of the French team. Throughout 2006, Heikki Kovalainen faithfully wrapped circles on the machines of his new team, eventually winding up 28, 000 km.
In 2007, the French "stable" was left by its leader Fernando Alonso, who preferred a different team, and Renault leaders decided to put on a promising Finn, transferring him to the main team. Kovalainen spent his first Grand Prix stage quite nervously, making a few mistakes and completing the race in tenth place. However, already at the second event of the season in Malaysia, he managed to finish eighth, gaining his first points in the championship standings.
Heikki Kovalainen, cool-headed and confident, spent his first season very evenly. He could even become the first driver in the history of Formula 1, who in his debut season finished in all stages.
However, at a stage in Brazil, his car was seriously damaged by a Schumacher machine, and the Finnish racer lost his race. In the end, he repeated the record of Tiago Monteiro, who accurately performed 16 races in his first season.
Team change
Fernando Alonso, who joined McLaren, could not find a common language with the leaders and partners of the new team. As a result, he decided to return to Renault, with whom he had pleasant memories of the champion seasons. Two "stables" made a kind of castling, as a result of which Alonso reunited with the French team, and Heikki Kovalainen moved to McLaren.
The year 2008 was the most successful in the career of a Finnish pilot. It was in that year that for the first and last time in his life he was able to win the stage of the Grand Prix series, having won in Hungary, several times reached the podium.
Heikki Kovalainen started the first race of the season in Australia, taking fifth place on the move. Already at the next stage in Malaysia, he became the third and went up to the podium.
The Hungarian Grand Prix was the main event in the athlete's career. The track in Budapest has always been considered one of the most insidious in Formula 1.
It is replete with bends and gives little room for long high-speed jerks. Skilfully maneuvering on bends, Heikki Kovalainen went around Felipe Massa, whose engine was out of order, and for the first time in his career he won the race.
During the season, the Finn was once again able to climb the podium, becoming the second in Italy, and ended the year in seventh place.
Decline in results
2009 was the time of the Brawn team, and McLaren practically did not participate in the champion race. Failures haunted the pilots of the British team from the first stages. According to the results of the first races, neither Hamilton nor Heikki Kovalainen were even able to enter the top 10. The latter also retired at the first stage after a collision at the first stage of the Grand Prix in Australia.
At the next race in Malaysia, Heikki Kovalainen turned on the first lap, and he finished among the latter. Then his affairs got a little better, he regularly scored points, but he was never able to climb the podium.
The leaders of the McLaren team were unhappy with the performance of their co-pilot and took advantage of the departure of champion Jenson Button from Brawn, inviting him to replace the Finnish rider.
Photos of Heikki Kovalainen still appeared on the pages of sports publications, but his further career was in jeopardy. The rider did not have sponsorship from the largest companies and could not count on cooperation with the leading “stables” of Formula 1.
Career restart attempt
In 2010, in Formula 1, three new teams entered for participation. Tony Fernandez, the owner of Lotus decided to invite experienced pilots to himself and used the services of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen. The capabilities of the newcomer to the royal series of races were much more modest than such monsters as Ferrari and Mercedes, and the Finnish pilot simply did not have the technical capabilities with his new car in order to compete with the leading racers and participate in the fight for the championship.
For the three years spent in the new team, Heikki Kovalainen never once entered the podium and could not even finish at least one race with points. The biggest success in these years for him was the twelfth place at the Grand Prix in Japan.
In 2013, Lotus owners, dissatisfied with the results of their team, decided to change their policies and began to attract famous and well-known racers into their ranks. Finn was left without work for some time, but then he was still invited to the post of test pilot and began to experience the new capabilities of high-speed cars.
