Heikki Kovalainen To Make F1 Return With Caterham

It has been officially confirmed by Caterham that 31-year-old Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen will make his return to Formula 1 this weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix, when he will partake in the opening practice session of the weekend. The Finn was initially dropped by the outfit after the 2012 season, along with then team-mate Vitaly Petrov.

The decision by Caterham to return Heikki Kovalainen to the outfit comes after a frustrating opening three races to the new season, in which the Leafield-based outfit has been visibly out-performed by Marussia and Jules Bianchi in particular. The Finn’s return to the team will see him provide feedback on the team’s various updates they are introducing to the car for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, as well as feedback on the controversial Pirelli tyres which have created many headaches throughout the paddock.

After the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, Heikki Kovalainen will return behind the wheel of the CT03 at the Spanish Grand Prix around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya were he will reprise his Friday practice role within the team. Rumors of such a decision within Caterham emerged during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, where Caterham were once again out-performed by Marussia. This decision by Caterham will undoubtedly pile increased pressure upon both Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde, who have failed to greatly impress so far this season.

“It’s obviously great news that I’ll be on track in Bahrain and Spain and I’m really looking forward to getting back to work and helping the team as much as I can.” Enthused Heikki Kovalainen, “I’ll be taking part in the two FP1 sessions in Bahrain and Barcelona to give the team my input on the new parts we’re bringing to those races, and I’ll be working closely with the race drivers and the engineers on track and back at Leafield to help everyone get the most out of the new package. I’m physically ready to get back into the car and I know my experience can help give the team new ideas and options for directions to take on setup and strategy. I’m looking forward to getting back to work!”

Caterham’s team principal, Cyril Abiteboul, has explained that Heikki Kovalainen’s wealth of knowledge within Formula 1 at team’s such as Renault and McLaren was the major factor in his return with the outfit as their development driver. The Finn’s career in the sport began in 2007 with Renault, before a switch to McLaren in 2008 saw him secure his one and only victory in the sport at the Hungarian Grand Prix. After a tough season with McLaren in 2009, the Finn moved to Lotus [now known as Caterham] for the 2010 season. After three seasons with the outfit, he was eventually dropped for the 2013 season as Caterham decided to completely change it’s driving line-up with Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde.

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Heikki Kovalainen Believes Q2 Was Possible At Brazil

Heikki Kovalainen believes he and Caterham had a chance to progress to Q2 during the wet/dry qualifying session for the Brazilian Grand Prix, which saw he Finn become one of the first drivers to tip-toe around the still relatively wet Interlagos circuit at the start of the session.

Throughout the final sector of the lap, the track conditions were exceedingly treacherous as the majority of the field slid their way around the Interlagos circuit on Pirelli’s dry tyre compound. On his first timed lap, Heikki Kovalainen came perilously close to colliding with the Marussia of Timo Glock, as the two jostled for track position. With Marussia currently ahead of Caterham in the Constructors’ Championship, grid position for the 71-lap race was extra imperative. However, Kovalainen believes Q2 was possible during qualifying, despite eventually qualifying for the race 20th.

“At the start of qualifying it was quite tricky as there was some standing water on track in the first couple of laps and even though the grip levels improved there was still less grip than in FP3.” Explained Heikki Kovalainen, “In the end the times kept coming down and maybe we had a chance to get into Q2, but we can be reasonably happy with how it finished. On my final lap I made a couple of small mistakes, but apart from that I was close to getting as much as I could out of the car so now we move on to tomorrow.”

With the Finn’s future in Formula 1 looking severely bleak after this season, especially with the signing of Frenchman Charles Pic, Heikki Kovalainen will unquestionably be striving for a competitive result as he and the team aim to thwart Marussia. With tomorrow’s weather forecast predicting rain for the race, a competitive result could well be on the cards as the season draws to a conclusion.

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Heikki Kovalainen: “We Underperformed Today”

Heikki Kovalainen has been blunt with regards to Caterham’s uncompetitive qualifying performance for the United States Grand Prix, simply stating that the team underperformed during the all-important qualifying session. The Leafield-based outfit were out-qualified by the Marussia duo of Timo Glock and Charles Pic.

After the team elected to not run a Friday driver during yesterday’s two opening practice sessions to allow both Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov enough time to learn the new venue, the team are understandably frustrated after being outshone during qualifying by the KERS-less Marussia outfit. The team are currently ahead of Caterham in the Constructors’ Championship, something which could cost Caterham millions should they be unable to leapfrog the Anglo-Russian outfit.

“We underperformed today, it’s really that simple.” Explained a disheartened Heikki Kovalainen, “We went with a plan that didn’t work and unfortunately both Vitaly and I weren’t able to get enough heat into the tyres to get the best out of them, or manage the traffic well enough to get a clean lap in. Tomorrow’s another day so now we need to regroup and have a better performance in the race than we did today.”

Heikki Kovalainen is adamant both he and team-mate Vitaly Petrov will be able to beat the Marussia duo during tomorrow’s 56-lap United States Grand Prix. However, with neither Marussia nor Caterham likely to score points this weekend, the outfit will require an 11th place finish to thwart Glock’s 12th place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix back in September.

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Kovalainen Hindered By DRS Issues As Petrov Struggles In Qualifying

Heikki Kovalainen’s qualifying effort was hindered by a DRS issue during qualifying for tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, whilst the Finn’s team-mate Vitaly Petrov struggled throughout the duration of the session. This saw the Caterham duo qualify 19th and 21st for the race, with the Marussia of Charles Pic splitting the pair.

Vitaly Petrov in particular suffered a rather uncompetitive qualifying session for the Caterham outfit, after struggling during the third and final practice session earlier in the day. This saw the Russian driver test several setups on his car, however once the qualifying hour began, Petrov once again found himself struggling with the balance of his car around the Yas Marina circuit.

“Honestly I’m a little bit disappointed with where I’ve ended up in quali today because I thought the car would be a bit quicker than it was.” Explained a disheartened Vitaly Petrov, “We had a slightly tricky FP3 and tried a couple of setup options to find a good balance and when I went out for my first run in Q1 it didn’t really feel like I could push. It felt better on the softs and on my fastest lap I was looking good up to turn 17 but a bit of traffic after that held me up just enough to cost me time.”

Whilst Vitaly Petrov struggled in his machine, Heikki Kovalainen was suffering from an issue on his DRS. This meant that the Finn was at a severe disadvantage through the high speed corners, and saw him only just qualify ahead of rookie Charles Pic in the Marussia. Despite a tough day at the office for the Caterham duo, they are both confident ahead of tomorrow’s race.

“My first run on the medium tyres was ok but on the second run on the softs I had a problem with the DRS that meant I wasn’t able to really attack the high speed corners and that cost me a bit of time.” Said Heikki Kovalainen, “Despite that I think we’re looking ok for tomorrow. The balance feels better with the lower track temperatures we had for quali and that’ll most likely be the same tomorrow for the race, so hopefully I can have another good start and see how hard we can push the cars ahead.”

Once again the Toro Rossos were the nearest of the midfield teams to Caterham during the qualifying hour, and both Kovalainen and Petrov will be eager to push to Faenza-based outfit during the race. With Caterham still striving to recapture 10th in the Constructors’ Championship from Marussia, a competitive end to the season is imperative for the Leafield-based outfit.

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Heikki Kovalainen Suffered From KERS Failure During Indian Grand Prix

Heikki Kovalainen lost out due to a KERS failure during the latter stages of the Indian Grand Prix, which forced the Finn to cede his track position to team-mate Vitaly Petrov. Despite this unfortunate turn of events, Kovalainen was still able to finish the race ahead of the Marussias and HRTs in 18th position.

After starting the race from 20th on the grid, Heikki Kovalainen was able to enjoy a positive start after picking several places through the opening few corners. As the opening stint played out, Caterham decided switch from a two-stop to a one-stop strategy, with tyre degradation less of an issue around the Buddh International Circuit. However, roughly two thirds of the way through the race, Kovalainen suffered the KERS failure which plagued him until the end of the race.

“My start was good.” Explained Heikki Kovalainen, “We had planned to do two stops but with the way the car was performing we went long on the first stint and switched to a one stop, boxing just after halfway. I had a good stop but about two thirds of the way through the race I had a KERS problem which meant I had to let Vitaly [Petrov] pass. From there it was really just a matter of getting my car to the end of the race. Losing KERS obviously didn’t help but it was still pretty easy to pull away from the cars behind and without that problem I’m sure I’d have finished higher.”

Despite the KERS issue on the car, both Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov remain confident for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend, with the team set to introduce several new upgrades to the CT01. With the Leafield-based outfit still striving to catch Marussia in the Constructors’ Championship, any new upgrade packages will be warmly welcomed in the closing stages of the season, regarding they benefit the overall pace of the car.

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No Issues Caused Kovalainen’s Q1 Spin

Heikki Kovalainen has confirmed that there were no issues on his Caterham which caused his unfortunate spin towards the end of Q1, which saw the Leafield-based outfit eventually qualify 19th and 20th on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Kovalainen remains confident of a competitive race, despite his minor spin.

Throughout the opening 20 minute segment of qualifying, Heikki Kovalainen enjoyed a decent balance on his Renault-powered Caterham CT01 in comparison to Korea last time out. However, as Q1 drew to a conclusion, an abundance of cars on the track hindered the Finn’s ability to set a quick time, which eventually saw him spin off the track at turn 11 and embed his car in the gravel trap.

“It’s been a pretty good weekend so far.” Explained a positive Heikki Kovalainen, “The balance has been better than we had in Korea and on my first run in qualifying the car felt ok. There was more to come but I had a bit of traffic that held me up and then on my second run I caught up with a bunch of cars going into turn 10 and lost a bit of grip, enough to put me off. I wasn’t going in too hard and there weren’t any issues with the car, I just lost the front end and even with the spin I didn’t lose any positions so I think we can still have a good race tomorrow.”

Heikki Kovalainen will line-up 20th for tomorrow’s Indian Grand Prix, after being out-qualified once again by Russian team-mate Vitaly Petrov. The Caterham duo were able to qualify ahead of Championship rivals Marussia, however the Anglo-Russian outfit are still ahead of the Leafield-based team in the Constructors’ Championship.

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Heikki Kovalainen Remaining Focused On Catching Marussia

Heikki Kovalainen is remaining focused on catching Marussia for 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship, instead of worrying about his future within the Caterham outfit next season. With the Finn’s future unconfirmed for next season, questions are continuing to be raised as to where he might end up come 2013.

Although Heikki Kovalainen has driven for the Leafield-based outfit since their debut season back in 2010, when they were known as Lotus, the Finn has yet to be confirmed for what would be his fourth season with the team. Since his time at the team, he has been partnered by Jarno Trulli and now Vitaly Petrov, however rising stars from the likes of GP2 and the World Series by Renault are threatening his continuation as a Caterham driver.

When asked about his future in Formula 1, Heikki Kovalainen remained coy on the subject, deciding instead to emphasize his focus in taking each race as it comes and catching Marussia for 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship. With neither Marussia or Caterham having scored any points so far this season, their position in the Constructors’ Championship is determined by their highest finish of the season.

“Nothing’s been signed for next [season] for myself yet.” Explained Heikki Kovalainen, “Personally, my target and my focus is at each race weekend for our team it’s quite important that we try to regain that 10th position back from Marussia. It’s not going to be easy but I think we have to do whatever it takes to be in a position to do that if a freak race happens again. So, the main focus is on that and regarding the future with the team and with Tony, we haven’t decided yet. I think Tony knows what he gets with me but then he’s evaluating other options I think to see what he wants to do. And I’m waiting. In the meantime, of course, my management is also working. There’s nothing really to report but the main thing I think for myself and really for our team has to be to keep pushing to get that 10th position back, it’s quite crucial.”

With Vitaly Petrov’s future at Caterham also in doubt for next season, the driving line-up at the team could be set to change drastically ahead of the new season. Both reserve drivers Giedo van der Garde and Alexander Rossi have driven for the team during Friday practice at least once throughout the year, and could well be an option for Caterham. Either way, both Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov are striving for a competitive result in the closing four races of the season, as they try to remain a Caterham driver for 2013.

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Giedo van der Garde To Replace Heikki Kovalainen In FP1 At Suzuka

Caterham have confirmed that their Dutch reserve driver, Giedo van der Garde, will replace Heikki Kovalainen during the opening practice session for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. The 27-year-old will carry out reserve driver duties for the Leafield-based outfit for the remainder of the season, after a successful year in GP2.

Giedo van der Garde carried out similar duties for Caterham earlier in the season, at the Chinese Grand Prix when he replaced Vitaly Petrov behind the wheel of the Caterham CT01. Since then, van der Garde has enjoyed a relatively successful season racing for Caterham in the GP2 support series, alongside Venezuelan driver Rodolfo Gonzalez. The Dutchman won two races throughout the highly competitive season, at the Spanish and Singapore events.

With the GP2 Series now over for another year, Giedo van der Garde will return to his reserve driver duties with Caterham. However, Heikki Kovalainen will make a return behind the wheel of the Caterham CT01 later in the afternoon during second practice, as the Caterham outfit continue to improve towards the midfield.

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Heikki Kovalainen Blames Safety Car For Poor Result At Singapore

Heikki Kovalainen firmly believes that the safety car ruined his ability to secure a decent result at the Singapore Grand Prix, a race which saw the Caterham duo of Kovalainen and Petrov finished 16th and 19th respectively. With the Marussia of Glock finishing 12th, Caterham have now dropped to 11th in the Constructors’ Championship.

After the two safety car periods, Heikki Kovalainen had elected to remain out on track whereas the majority of the field pitted under safety car conditions. This tactic saw Kovalainen rise steadily up the field, however once the race was resumed after the second safety car intervention, the 30-year-old Finn was forced to pit for new tyres, which therefore saw him drop back through the order.

“For me that was a good race until the safety cars.” Explained Heikki Kovalainen, after what was a tough 61-lap race. “We decided to stay out but when we restarted for the second time I’d probably been out too long and the tyres were starting to give up. I had to stop again and there wasn’t enough time to recover from there so that was the end of the race. If it hadn’t been for the safety car I’m sure we’d have finished much higher.”

Due to the topsy-turvy nature of the Singapore Grand Prix, both the Caterham and Marussia duo were able to fight with the likes of Kamui Kobayashi and Nico Hulkenberg in the closing stages of the race. With Vitaly Petrov and Heikki Kovalainen suffering an unlucky end to the race, Timo Glock was able to secure Marussia’s most competitive result in 12th. This result for the Banbury-based outfit knocked Caterham down to 11th in the Constructors’ Championship, which might not sound like much, yet could cost the Leafield-based outfit millions if the Championship order remains unchanged.

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Heikki Kovalainen Set To Move To Ferrari In 2013?

Rumors circulating in the Finnish press have indicated that current Caterham driver and former McLaren driver, Heikki Kovalainen, could be on his way to Maranello to team-mate Fernando Alonso for 2013. This comes after ongoing allegations that Ferrari are striving to find a replacement for the underperforming Felipe Massa.

Felipe Massa has once again failed to shine this season for Ferrari.

For the last several seasons, Brazilian driver Felipe Massa has endured highly uncompetitive results in comparison to team-mate Fernando Alonso. Whereas the 2-time World Champion has already taken 9 victories with the Scuderia since his debut with the team in 2010, Massa has failed to win since 2008 and has even failed to finish on the podium since 2010. These results have sparked rumors within the paddock that Ferrari are searching for a viable replacement for the Brazilian driver, with many drivers including Adrian Sutil, Nico Hulkenberg, Paul di Resta, Mark Webber and even Jenson Button being thrown into the mix of potential candidates throughout the season.

However, according to Finnish broadcaster MTV3, Heikki Kovalainen has become the latest candidate to replace Felipe Massa. Rumors suggest that Kovalainen’s management have been invited to Maranello to discuss a possible drive for the Scuderia for the 2013 season, a move which would see the Finn leave Caterham after three years as their number one driver.

Heikki Kovalainen has also been linked to a drive with Lotus, after Finland’s MTV3 reported that the 30-year-old had been in contact with the Enstone-based outfit. Kovalainen last drove for Lotus (then known as Renault) during his debut season in 2007, before switching to McLaren to team-mate Lewis Hamilton in 2008. Regardless of whether Heikki Kovalainen moves to Ferrari next season, it’s undeniable that the Scuderia are eager to replace Felipe Massa who has failed to step onto the podium since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix.

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